e little
church clung to the mountain side. He had worked hard and faithfully
and was worshipped by his people. Only the secret Forgers of the Sword
knew that his most ardent worshippers were those with whom he prayed
and to whom he gave blessings in dark caverns under the earth, where
arms piled themselves and men with dark strong faces sat together in
the dim light and laid plans and wrought schemes.

This Marco and The Rat did not know as they talked of their desire to
see him.

"He may not choose to tell us anything," said Marco. "When we have
given him the Sign, he may turn away and say nothing as some of the
others did. He may have nothing to say which we should hear. Silence
may be the order for him, too."

It would not be a long or dangerous climb to the little church on the
rock. They could sleep or rest all day and begin it at twilight. So
after they had talked of the old priest and had eaten their black
bread, they settled themselves to sleep under cover of the thick tall
ferns.

It was a long and deep sleep which nothing disturbed. So few human
beings ever climbed the hill, except by the narrow rough path leading
to the church, that the little wild creatures had not learned to be
afraid of them. Once, during the afternoon, a hare hopping along under
the ferns to make a visit stopped by Marco's head, and, after looking
at him a few seconds with his lustrous eyes, began to nibble the ends
of his hair. He only did it from curiosity and because he wondered if
it might be a new kind of grass, but he did not like it and stopped
nibbling almost at once, after which he looked at it again, moving the
soft sensitive end of his nose rapidly for a second or so, and then
hopped away to attend to his own affairs. A very large and handsome
green stag-beetle crawled from one end of The Rat's crutches to the
other, but, having done it, he went away also. Two or three times a
bird, searching for his dinner under the ferns, was surprised to find
the two sleeping figures, but, as they lay so quietly, there seemed
nothing to be frightened about. A beautiful little field mouse running
past discovered that there were crumbs lying about and ate all she
could find on the moss. After that she crept into Marco's pocket and
found some excellent ones and had quite a feast. But she disturbed
nobody and the boys slept on.

It was a bird's evening song which awakened them both. The bird
alighted on the branch of a tree