The Mystery of the Nervous Lion - West Nick - Страница 11

“What do you mean, Mike?” asked Pete.

“I mean somebody could have let him out. Somebody who hated my Uncle Jim bad enough to pull a stunt like that. You said yourselves you saw him running through the woods.

“Unless I’m dead wrong, it was Hank Morton who let him out!” he said bitterly.

10

In the Dark

Jupe shook his head. “Hank Morton could have been running through the woods for any number of reasons. That’s not proof that he let your gorilla escape. Perhaps if we could see its cage, we might find some clues.”

“Okay, you fellows are the investigators,” said Mike. “Maybe you’ll discover something.” He led them up the hill. “Say, where’s that Rolls-Royce you said you were coming in?”

“Down at the foot of the hill,” said Bob. “Worthington is used to us. He’ll just wait until we show up again.”

Mike chuckled and brought the boys to a clearing at the side of the house. Lights blazed in every room, lighting up the nearby area. Mike pointed and The Three Investigators found themselves staring at a large, empty cage.

“The shipment arrived not long after you left this afternoon. There were two cages this time and — ”

“Two cages?” Jupe asked.

A snarling, spitting sound behind him made him whirl in fright. Bob and Pete flinched.

“Gosh!” Bob gasped. “What was that?”

Mike directed his flashlight to the far end of the house. “I guess I should have warned you first. Take a look! Isn’t that a beauty?”

The boys looked in awe at the sinister creature caged barely twenty feet from them. As they slowly approached, it snarled again.

“It’s a black panther,” Mike said. “How do you like it?”

Gleaming yellow eyes stared unwinkingly at them from behind thick iron bars. As they took another cautious step forward, the panther hissed. Its mouth opened, showing long, white pointed fangs. Hastily, the boys stepped backward.

Bob gulped. “I like him fine. Just so long as he stays locked up in that cage.”

“Wow!” Pete exclaimed.” Look at those muscles! If you ask me, that panther looks a lot tougher than old George.”

As if acting in support of Pete’s observation, the beast snarled and lunged at the bars with a frightening thud. The boys retreated another step, watching the black animal warily.

“It would be a pretty good fight, at that, Pete — lion against panther,” Mike said. “Panthers, this kind, are really leopards. They strike like lightning. They’ve got terrible raking claws as well as sharp teeth. But don’t let George fool you with his dumb, gentle act. He’s still a lion — a good-sized one at that — over four hundred pounds — and he’s simply too big and powerful for the panther. No panther ever beat a lion yet, that I ever heard of. It would take a tiger to do it.”

The boys stared in silence at the animal pacing restlessly in its cage. “I kind of agree with Pete,” Bob said finally. “This baby looks real mean and tough. What do you think, Jupe?” He looked around. “Jupe?”

The First Investigator was spotted by the cage the gorilla had escaped from. He motioned them over.

“What’s up, Jupe?” asked Bob.

“This cage has been tampered with, fellows,” Jupe announced. “While I’m not certain that Hank Morton was responsible for the gorilla getting out, somebody was!”

“How can you tell?” asked Pete.

Jupe pointed dramatically to the side of the cage. “See there? One bar has been removed. The adjoining two are bent. The bars are set approximately six inches apart. I think whoever removed the bar gave the gorilla his chance. He bent the other two far enough apart to slip out. You said he was a big one? How big?”

“He wasn’t full size, but big enough,” Mike said. “About our size.” He shook his head as they appraised each other. “Don’t let the size fool you. He’s twice as powerful as a grown man.”

“Where did he come from?” Jupe asked.

“Rwanda, in Central Africa. We were expecting a young gorilla from there. We’ve been waiting a long time. Uncle Cal went through all the mountain gorilla terrain — Rwanda, the Congo, and Uganda. He finally wrote to us from Rwanda that he had a gorilla, but he was having trouble getting it out of the country. Gorillas are on the endangered species list — there aren’t very many of them left — and only zoos and scientists can get export permits for them. It took Uncle Cal a while to convince the authorities that Jungle Land was a kind of zoo.”

“Gee,” said Pete. “Wouldn’t it have been easier to just get another kind of gorilla?”

“Well, there are lowland gorillas, but there’s an embargo on them, too. I’m not even sure which species Uncle Cal finally sent us.”

“It was a young male mountain gorilla,” said a voice from the darkness. Jim Hall stepped out of the shadows and nodded to the boys.

“Have you found him yet?” Mike asked.

Jim Hall shook his head. His face was tired and dust-stained. “I just heard he’s been seen up by the canyon. I wanted to check back here again before heading out.”

“What happened with Mr. Eastland?” Jupe asked. “Did George really attack Rock Randall?”

Jim Hall laughed harshly. “That was hogwash. It seems Randall got into a fight with somebody and got thrown around on some rocks on the movie set. He was beat up and bloody, and it did look as if George might have mauled him. But a doctor looked him over and said no animal could have made those marks. So we’re clear of that mess, and now we have another. I’m glad you’re back tonight, boys. You can see for yourselves that Alfred Hitchcock wasn’t exaggerating when he told you something’s wrong at Jungle Land.”

There were shouts in the distance, and Jim Hall made an impatient gesture. “Sorry, boys, but I’ve got to get moving and trap that gorilla before something happens.”

“I guess he’d be pretty dangerous to run up against,” Pete ventured.

“He might be frightened now by all the racket out there. But if you happen to run into him, don’t worry. Just get out of his way.”

Bob blinked. “What? Meet a gorilla face to face and not worry? How do you manage that?”

Hall laughed. “I’ll tell you something about gorillas. It applies to a lot of wild animals generally. Gorillas almost never behave aggressively. Oh, they bluff a lot, and scream and charge — that’s how they frighten away any animal that seems threatening. But mostly gorillas are peaceful animals that mind their own business. They graze in the same area as elephants, for example, and although they eat the same food, there’s no problem.”

“What happens?” asked Bob.

The tall man shrugged. “Mutual disregard,” he said. He glanced at his watch. A horn sounded. “That’ll be Doc.” He waved and walked away.

A moment later he passed, driving an open jeep. The thin, moustached man sitting next to him was holding a rifle.

Mike smiled. “It figures good old Doc Dawson would be around to help. He’s crazy about animals.”

Pete turned to look at the jeep carrying the two men off. They looked prepared for action.

“If he likes animals all that much, why is he holding a rifle?”

“That’s a stun gun,” Mike said. “It shoots a tranquilliser dart — not bullets. Whatever is hit is only knocked out temporarily, Pete — not really hurt.”

“Jim Hall and the search party should be able to find the gorilla,” said Jupiter. “I suggest we look around now while we have the opportunity. Perhaps we can learn what’s behind these animal escapes. First there was George, and now the gorilla.”

“Well, George seems okay now,” Mike said. “He’s in the house sleeping off the tetanus and tranquilliser shots Doc Dawson gave him. Doc cleaned up the wound and George will be able to face the camera tomorrow and earn a day’s pay for us.”

Jupiter was looking round. “Does George have a cage, too?”

“No, we got rid of George’s cage over a month ago,” said Mike. “He sleeps in the house with Jim and me. He has his own room but he prefers to share Jim’s.”