"I expect this man is so drunk he does not know what he is doing," continued Iason. "At the very worst we shall have to stay in here till he gets tired of waiting and goes away. We are safe in the cave." "I tell you what," said Nikias rubbing his knuckles very hard into his eyes, "it must be 'the mad shepherd.'" All the others stared at him. "The mad shepherd? What do you mean?" "I heard Kyra Calliope the other day telling Yanni. She said there was a mad shepherd on the hills, and that he had killed a lot of sheep of the other shepherds, and she said the mayor and the doctor wanted to tie him up and send him to Athens in the steamer, but they could not catch him, because he was so cunning and hid in the hills for days." "You little fool!" cried his brother, seizing him by the shoulder. "You--You--Idiot--You--Why did you not tell us when we first met him down there, so that we might have turned back. Do you think it is a joke--a mad man?" "Did I know?" whimpered Nikias. "Did I know when we met him? He looked like all shepherds then." "If you had only ..." began Iason, but he was interrupted by a shriek of horror from Chryseis. She was pointed to the small opening left above the rock that blocked the entrance. There, clearly outlined against the sky, was a grinning, red-bearded face. Part of a hairy hand could be seen pushing against the stone. Iason lost no time. Stooping he seized hold of a big round pebble and sent it crashing right on the fingers that were working round the stone. There was a howl of pain and the face disappeared, then after a moment came a sound of retreating footsteps and of broken bushes, and stones rolling down the rock overhead. The children huddled together, listened, pale and terrified, till all was silence again. Then Iason pushed them aside and advanced to the opening. "Listen!" he said, "I have just thought of it. Perhaps the officers we saw are still on the shore. Now that the man is not there I shall get outside and call to them." "No! No, Iason! Stop! Iason!..." But before any of them could stop him, Iason was squeezing himself round the side of the rock. He was out all but one leg, when a stone bigger than any of those that had been thrown before, bounded against the rock, and struck him on the side of the head. He fell forward with a smothered "Ah!" and the others with a scream of fear rushed to the blocked entrance. Iason was lying half in and half out, and the short fair hair was dabbled with blood. Nikias and Pavlo were for trying to push out the rock, but Andromache stopped them. "No! No!" she cried, "we can drag him in without that." And by combined pulling and pushing they succeeded in getting Iason safely inside. He opened his eyes and said, "It is nothing," but he closed them again. Chryseis lifted his head to her knees and looked round desperately. "We must wash the place in the water from the stream," she said, "but I have no handkerchief."