"I say, this can never be of any use to us. Who's going to wade through
water for the sake of having a secret place?"
"Nobody," replied Scarlett; "but let's go on, as we've gone so far."
"Ugh!"
"What's the matter?" cried Scarlett, stopping short suddenly.
"I thought something laid hold of my leg. Mind!"
Scarlett nearly dropped the lanthorn. "Oh, I say, Scar, that would be
too horrible. Do be careful. I don't want to be in the dark again."
"It was your fault, you pretending to be frightened."
"I didn't pretend. I was frightened. It did seem as if something
touched my leg. I say, how much farther do you think it is?"
"What! to the end? I don't know. Come along."
"Well, if anyone had told me that I should do such a thing as this, I
wouldn't have believed him," grumbled Fred. "How cold the water feels!"
"You wouldn't mind if it was one of the streams, and we were after
trout."
"No; because it would be all light and warm there, and we could see what
we were doing. Don't you think we might go back?"
"No. Let's go to the end now. I'm sure this is the way down to the
lake, and we shall find the entrance. Perhaps we shall find the end
blocked up, and then when we open it all the water will rush out, and we
shall have a dry passage after all."
"Then you will not give it up?"
"No," said Scarlett, doggedly. "It's our place, and I want to be able
to tell father all about it."
"No, no; don't do that," cried Fred, in dismay.
"I don't mean yet. I mean when we've done with it."
"I've done with it now," muttered Fred. "I don't see any fun in going
sop, sop, squeeze, squatter, through all this cold, dark water. Eh!
what's that--the end of it?"
"I think so," said Scarlett, holding the lanthorn up as high as he
could. "Here are some steps and a door."
"Of course; then that must be the door that opens on the lake."
"No, it can't be, for the steps are dry, and--I say, Fred!"
"What is it?"
"Look here," cried Scarlett. "This is strange. Here's a chamber or
cellar."
"Just like the other we found."
"Like it," cried Scarlett; "why, it is it!"
"What nonsense! That one was toward the house. This one is toward the
lake."
"Nonsense or no, there's the old armour in the corner."
The two lads stood with the lanthorn held up, staring at the heap, and
then at the rusty hinged door, and lastly at one another.
"Do you believe in enchantment, Fred?" said Scarlett, at last.
"No, not a bit. Enchantment, and witches, and goblins, and all those
sort of things, are nothing but stuff, father says."
"But isn't it curious that we should have found ourselves here? It is
the same, isn't it?"
"I think so. Yes, that's the way into the house," said Fred, staring
along the dark passage. "But I don't care whether it is or whether it
isn't. My legs are so wet that I mean to get out as soon as I can."
Scarlett held the lanthorn up again, and had one more good look round.
Then, without a word, he turned, descended the steps into the water, and
began to wade back.
"Oh, I say, it is wet!" grumbled Fred, as he followed the lanthorn,
watching their grotesque shadows on the wall, the flashing of the light
on the water, and the glimmering on the damp walls.
Neither of the lads spoke now as they waded on, for each was trying to
puzzle out the problem of how it was that they should have journeyed
backward; but no light came.
"I shall make it out," said Fred, "as soon as we get in the sunshine
again. Go on a bit faster, Scar."
But there was no temptation to go faster, and the slow wading was
continued, till a glimmering of light cheered them; and then quicker
progress was made, for the opening seemed to send down more and more
light as they approached, till they could see quite a fringe of roots,
which had forced their way through the arch of rugged stones, and at
last make out how the roof of the passage had been driven in by the fall
of the tree.
"Oh! there is something now," cried Scarlett, starting.
"What is it?"
"Something did touch my leg."
"Kick it!" cried Fred, huskily. "Look out, Scar! it's swimming towards
you. Mind, mind!"
The boy had raised up his foot to kick, but placed it down again, for
the terror proved to be a piece of rotten wood floating on the surface.
"How easy it is to be frightened!" said Scarlett, drawing a long breath,
as they stood once more at the opening.
"Yes, far too easy," grumbled Fred. "I wish it wasn't. Shall I go up
first, or will you?"
"Isn't it a pity to go up without finding the way?" said Scarlett,
hesitatingly.
"It does seem to be; but I've had enough of it. Let's go up now."
"Shall we? I know we shall want to come down again."
"Yes," said Fred, hesitating; "I suppose we shall. Do you feel to mind
it so much now?"
"I don't think so."
"Let's go on, then."
"Shall we, Fred?"
"Yes; didn't I say so?" cried Fred, crossly. "Go on; you've got the
light."
Without another word, Scarlett held the light above his head.
"It seems very rum though, Scar. That must be the way to the house."
"Well, let's see."
Scarlett started once more with the lanthorn along the tunnel in the
other direction, apparently toward the house, while, with a maliciously
merry laugh on his face, Fred hung back, and half hid himself among the
fallen wood and stones.
Scarlett went on quite a couple of dozen yards, talking the while, every
word he said coming back as in a loud whisper distinctly to the mouth of
the hole.
"Don't seem to get any deeper, Fred. I'm glad we came, because we shall
find it out this time."
Fred chuckled and watched, and, to his surprise, he saw his companion
and the light gradually disappear, leaving the tunnel in obscurity.
"Why, I shall have to go in the dark," cried Fred to himself. "Oh!"
And, startled more than he had startled his companion, he hurried after
him, so eager to overtake the light that he nearly went headlong in the
water, for his body went quicker than his legs.
"Hi! stop a minute, Scar!" he cried; and he noted, as he hurried on,
that the passage made a great curve, though it was so gradual that he
could not tell its extent.
"Why, I thought you were close behind me," said Scarlett, as he overtook
him. "Lean a little forward, and you'll find it easier to go along
through the water. It's getting just a little deeper now."
"Then this must be the way to the lake, after all."
They persevered, going steadily on for some time, and, with the water
gradually creeping up and up till it was mid-thigh, and then higher and
higher till it was almost to their hips, and then they stopped.
"I shan't go any farther, Scar," cried Fred. "I don't want to have to
swim."
"Yes, it is getting deep," said Scarlett, thoughtfully.
"Couldn't get a boat down here, could we!"
"No; but we might get one of the big tubs," replied Scarlett. "It would
hold us both. Shall we go back now?"
"Yes; we're so horribly wet; but hold the lanthorn up higher, and--Oh, I
say!"
Scarlett had obeyed, and raised it so high that the lanthorn struck
slightly against the rough roof, and, as the candle happened to be
already burning away in the socket, this was sufficient to extinguish
it, and for the moment they were in total darkness, or so it seemed to
them in the sudden change.
Then Fred cried exultantly, "Look! look!" and pointed to a bright,
rough-looking star of light.
"Sunshine," cried Scarlett. "Then that is the entrance. Shall we go
on?"
Fred had already squeezed by him, and was wading on toward the light,
which proved to be not more than fifty feet away.
"Come along!" he cried; "it isn't very much deeper, only up to my middle
now. Here, I'm touching it. This is the end, and--it's--it's--no, I
can't quite make out where it is," he continued, as he darkened the hole
by placing his face to it; "but I can see the lake, and I could see
where, only there's a whole lot of ivy hanging down."
"Can you get your head through?"
"No; too small. Come and look."
Fred made way for his companion, and, while he was peering through, the
other amused himself by feeling the flat surface which stopped farther
progress, and soon made out that there was a wall of rugged stone, built
up evidently to stop the entrance; and this was matted together with ivy
strands and roots which had forced their way in.
"Yes," said Scarlett, at last, as he drew away; "this is the entrance,
and now we've got to find it from outside."
"Yes; but how?"
"Oh, we shall soon find it. Get the boat, and hunt all along till we
find a place that has been built like a wall, and then search for this
hole."
"And how about the ivy all over it?"
Scarlett was silent for a while.
"I had forgotten all about the ivy," he said.
"If we could tell about where it was, I dare say we could soon find it."
"Yes, but we can't tell yet."
"And we shan't find out by stopping here, Scar; and oh, I say--"
"What's the matter?"
"The water's right up in my pockets. Come along back."
"But we've got to go in the dark."
"Can't help it. I don't mind so much now, for we can't go wrong. Come
along."
Fred took the lead now, and they went steadily back, feeling their way
along by the damp wall, and casting back from time to time regretful
looks at the bright star of light, which grew less and less, and then
disappeared; but as it passed from sight, they saw to their great
delight that there was a faint dawn, as it were, on ahead, and this grew
brighter and brighter, till they seemed to turn a corner, and saw the
bright rays shooting down through the hole, which they reached with a
rather confused but correct notion that about here the passage took a
double curve, somewhat in the shape of the letter S; but they were too
eager to get out into the wood again to give much attention to the
configuration of the place.
"Hah!" exclaimed Fred, taking a long breath, and then beginning to
squeeze the water out of his nether garment, "that's better. I say,
hadn't we better hide this hole?"
"I don't think we need; nobody ever comes here. Let's go and have a
look down by the lake."