15
　　Behind the green curtain
　　The noise came nearer. ‘Like a motor-bike in the sky,’ said Jack¹.
　　‘Or a sewing-machine,’ said Dinah. ‘Jack, look! What’s that? That tiny speck² up there?’
　　Jack fumbled³ for his glasses, which were still round his neck. He put them to his eyes, strainingto focus the little black speck up in the moonlight. It came nearer.
　　‘Well – whatever it is I do believe it’s going to land on this mountain!’ said Dinah. ‘Isn’t itgoing slowly? Is it an aeroplane, Jack?’
　　‘No,’ said Jack. ‘Gosh – it’s a helicopter! You know – they are just the thing for travelling inmountains. They don’t fly fast but they can land in a very small space – on a lawn, or a roof even!’
　　‘A helicopter!’ cried Dinah, and took the glasses from Jack. ‘Let me see.’
　　It was now near enough for Dinah to be able to see it clearly with the glasses. Jack and Lucy-Ann watched it with screwed-up eyes. It hovered⁴ over the mountain-top, and then flew slowlyround it, appearing in sight again after a few minutes.
　　It then flew up a little higher, and descended⁵ slowly, almost vertically⁶, its engine making acurious sound in the night. Then there was silence.
　　‘It’s landed,’ said Jack. ‘But where? Gosh, I wouldn’t like to land on a mountain as steep as thisone.’
　　‘Perhaps there is a proper landing-place,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Right on the very top!’
　　‘Yes. There may be,’ said Jack. ‘What a thing to do, though – land a helicopter on the verysummit of a mountain like this! What for?’
　　Nobody knew the answer to that.
　　‘Well,’ said Jack, at last, ‘if that helicopter did land up on top, that would be one way ofbringing food and stuff to the men who are at work inside the mountain – they’d have to havefood, and there’s no way of getting it round about here!’

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