good? He looks a miserable little shrimp."
"He's a delightful teacher! I like him immensely! He told me I could
be a splendid player if I would only work hard enough."
"Oh, well, I could have told you as much as that myself." It was clear
that Rex thought it the polite thing to inquire about the success of the
music lesson, but also that his attention was fixed on some other
subject. "Look here!" he said suddenly, "the mater and Edna always rest
for an hour or two in the afternoon, and I promised to look after you
until they come down. Would you like a real, genuine--bloodcurdling
adventure?"
Norah gave a shriek of delight. "Rather, just! I should think I would.
What is it?"
"You can pin up your dress, and put on a big old coat?"
"Yes--yes!"
"And you won't mind if you do get grimy?"
"Not a bit I'm used to--I mean, I can soon wash myself clean again."
"Come along then! Follow me, and tread lightly. I don't want anyone to
see where we are going." And Rex led the way down the cellar stairs,
while Norah followed, afire with curiosity.
CHAPTER TEN.
A DANGEROUS ADVENTURE.
The Manor house dated back for nearly two hundred years, and the
underground premises were of an extent unknown in modern houses. Rex
led the way through various flagged divisions, and leaving behind
washing, wine, and coal cellars, came at last to a large door, locked
and bolted. Here he stopped, and drawing a bunch of keys from his
pocket, fitted one into the lock, and pushed and dragged at the door
until it opened before him. "Now then," he said, turning to Norah, "we
will prepare for business! I've got a lantern here and two old coats;
button yourself up in this, and you will come to no harm. I found these
old keys in a drawer to-day, and it struck me that one of them might fit
this door, so I came down to experiment before coming back for you.
There is a tradition that there is a subterranean passage leading from
this house to the lake, and I believe I have discovered the entrance.
I'll show you what I mean. Be careful how you tread, for the floor is
strewed with rubbish."
He took Norah by the arm as he spoke, and led her forward for two or
three steps. At first the darkness appeared impenetrable, but presently
her eyes became accustomed to the imperfect light, and she saw that she
was standing in a long apartment, filled with all manner of odd,
injured, and useless articles. Scraps of broken furniture, balks of
timber, and strangely-shaped pieces of iron lay on every side. It was
evidently a lumber-room of past generations which had been deserted by
later tenants, for the grated windows were thick with dust, and the
cobwebs hung in wreaths on the walls. Rex lighted the lantern, closed
the door as quietly as might be, and dodged in and out the piles of
rubbish to the far end of the cellar. "Come here! What do you think of
this?" he cried triumphantly; and Norah groped her way forward, to find
him standing before a part of the wall which had been broken down for
some purpose and left unrepaired. The stones and mortar were piled high
on the ground, and hidden behind them was a large hole opening into a
dark passage. "This looks like the genuine article, doesn't it? Are
you game to explore, and see where it leads?" queried Rex; and Norah
assented eagerly--
"Oh, yes, yes; I should love it! It looks so beautifully mysterious.
There may be hidden treasures. Would they belong to me if I found
them?"
"You would have a share, of course; the rest would be mine because I
discovered the opening. Now then, I'll go first, and hold the lantern;
you will have to stoop, but it may get higher as we go along."
The passage proved to be smooth, and, to Norah's relief, quite dry and
free from those "creepy, crawly animals" which were the only things
about which she was really nervous. But Rex was wrong in thinking that
it might improve in height, for it grew ever narrower and lower as they
progressed, until at times they were obliged to bend almost double.
"This is the way people have to crawl about inside the Pyramids," said
Rex. "It's a queer kind of place, but I mean to go on until I find
where it leads. I say, though! don't you come on if you would rather
not. You could go back to the cellar and wait for me."
But Norah would not listen to such a suggestion. What if her back did
ache, it was not every day that she had the chance of such an adventure;
besides, she had no particular wish to be left alone in the dark, while
it yet remained to be proved how she was to turn round when the time
came for the return journey. For five minutes longer they trudged
forward in silence, then Rex's stick struck against some other substance
than stone, and his outstretched hand came across a bar of iron. It
proved to be a half-closed grating, shutting out the entrance into the
further portion of the passage, but he was not to be turned aside by
such a trifle as this, and after much pushing and banging managed to
raise it sufficiently to make it possible to scramble underneath. Norah
followed in agile fashion, but hardly had she done so than there came
the sound of a fall, and a sharp, metallic click.
"What's that?" cried Rex quickly, and Norah stretched out her hand to
discover the cause of the noise. It came, into contact with something
hard and cold, and her heart gave a leap of fear, for she realised in an
instant that the trap-door had fallen, and that the click which they had
heard had been the catch with which it had swung into its rightful
position.
"I--I think something has fastened the grating," she said faintly. "I
can't make it move. We shan't be able to get back this way."
"Oh, what nonsense! Let me come and try," said Rex impatiently, but the
passage was so narrow at this point that it was impossible for him to
pass, and he had to content himself with directing Norah's efforts.
"I'll hold the lantern; look up and down and see if you can find the
fastening. Push upwards! Put your fingers in the holes, and tug with
all your might. ... Try it the other way. ... Kick it with your feet!"
Norah worked with all her strength--and she was a strong, well-grown
girl, with no small muscular power--but the grating stood firm as a
rock, and resisted all her efforts. "It's no use, Rex," she panted
desperately; and there was silence for a few moments, broken by a sound
which was strangely like the beating of two anxious hearts.
"Well, we shall just have to go on then, that's all," said Rex shortly.
"A passage is bound to lead somewhere, I suppose. The worst that can
happen is that we may have a walk home, and you couldn't come to much
harm in that coat!"
"Oh no! I shall be all right," said Norah bravely. For a few moments
she had been horribly frightened, but Rex's matter-of-fact speech had
restored her confidence in his leadership. Of course the passage must
have an outlet. She considered where they would come out, and even
smiled faintly to herself at the thought of the comical figure which she
would cut, striding through the lanes in the squire's old yellow
mackintosh. She was determined to let Rex see that though she was only
a girl, she could be as brave as any boy; but it was difficult to keep
up her spirits during the next ten minutes, for the passage seemed to
grow narrower all the time, while the air was close and heavy. A long
time seemed to pass while they groped their way forward, then suddenly
Rex's stick struck against some obstacle directly in his path, and he
stopped short.
"What is it?" cried Norah fearfully. It seemed an endless time to the
poor child before he answered, in a voice so strained and hoarse as to
be hardly recognisable.
"The passage is blocked. It is walled up. We cannot get any further!"
Rex lifted the lantern as he spoke and looked anxiously into the girl's
face, but Norah said nothing. It seemed as if she could not realise the
meaning of his words, but there was a dizzy feeling in her head as if a
catherine-wheel were whirling round and round, and she felt suddenly
weak and tired, so that she was obliged to sit down and lean against the
wall.
Rex bent over her with an anxious face.
"You are not going to faint, Norah?"
"Oh, no; I am--quite well."
There was a long silence, then--"Rex," said Norah, in a very weak little
voice, "did anyone know that you were down in the cellars to-day?"
Rex cleared his throat in miserable embarrassment.
"No, Norah. I am afraid no one saw me."
"Will they miss the keys?"
"They are very old keys, Norah. Nobody uses them."
A little frightened gasp sounded in his ear, but Norah said no more.
Rex clenched his fist and banged it fiercely on his knee.
"Idiot! idiot that I was! What business had I to let you come. It's
all my fault. It was no place for a girl; but the opening looked right
enough, and I thought--"
"I know. Besides, you asked me if I would like an adventure, and I said
I would. I came of my own free will. Don't be angry with yourself,
Rex; it is as much my fault as yours."
"You are a little brick, Norah," said a husky voice, and Rex's hand
gripped hers with a quick, strong pressure. "I never thought a girl
could be so plucky. I'll not forget--" He broke off suddenly, and
Norah's voice was very unsteady as she asked the next question--
"If--if we shouted very loudly would anyone hear?"
"I--er-- Think how far away from the house we must be by this time,
Norah!"
There was a long, throbbing silence. Rex sat with his head bent forward
on his knees; Norah stared blankly before her, her face looking thin and
ghost-like in the dim light. The silence grew oppressive, and presently
the lad raised his head and touched his companion on the arm. "Don't
look like that, Norah. What is it? Norah, speak! What are you
thinking about?" He had to bend forward to hear the answer, for Norah's
lips were dry, and her throat parched as with thirst.
"Poor father!" she gasped; and Rex started at the sound with a stab of
pain.
"Don't! I can't bear it. Norah, for pity's sake don't give in--don't
give up hope. Something will happen--it will--it must! We shall get
out all right."
"But if we can't go forward, and if we can't go back, and if no one can
hear us call," said Norah, still in the same slow, gasping accents, "I
don't see--how--we can. ... Rex! how long shall we have to wait before
we--"
"If you say that word, Norah, I'll never forgive you! We must get out--
we _shall_ get out! Come, rouse yourself like a good girl, and I will
go back to see what I can do with that grating. It's our only chance.
Lead the way until we come to the broadest part of the passage, and then
I must manage to pass you somehow or other. It has to be done."
Norah put out her hands and dragged herself wearily to her feet. The
feeble gleam of the lantern seemed only to call attention to the inky
blackness, and the air was so close and noisome, that she breathed in
heavy pants. It had been a delightful adventure to explore this
passage, so long as it was in her power to turn back at any moment; but
now that there was this dreadful terror of not being able to get out at
all, it seemed like a living grave, and poor Norah staggered forward in
sick despair. As they neared the grating, however, it became possible
to stand upright, and this, in itself, was a relief, for her back was
aching from long stooping.
Rex laid down the lantern at a safe distance, and put his hand on the
girl's shoulder. "Now then, Norah, I am going to squeeze past. I may
hurt you a little, but it will be only for a moment. Stretch your arms
out flat against the wall, turn your head sideways, and make yourself as
small as you can. I will take off my coat. Now! Are you ready?"
"Ready!" said Norah faintly; and the next moment it seemed as if the
breath were being squeezed out of her body, as Rex pressed her more and
more tightly against the wall. A horrible gasp of suffocation, a wild
desire to push him off and fight for her own liberty, and then it was
all over, and they were standing side by side, gasping, panting, and
tremulous.
"That's over!" sighed Rex thankfully. "Poor Norah! I am afraid I hurt
you badly, but it was the best plan to get it over as quickly as
possible. Now then, hold up the lantern, and let me have a look round."
...
It was a time of breathless suspense as Rex went carefully over every
inch of the door, examining niche and corner in the hope of discovering
the secret of the spring by which it was moved. The grating was rusty
with age, and had evidently stuck in the position in which he had found
it an hour before, when his vigorous shakings had loosened the springs
by which it was moved. Try as he might, however, he could not succeed
in moving it a second time; there was no sign of knob or handle; he
could find no clue to its working.
"It's no use, Rex," said Norah feebly. "You will have to give it up."
But the lad's indomitable will would not permit him to agree in any such
conclusion.
"I will never give it up!" he cried loudly. "I brought you into this
place, and I'll get you out of it, if I have to break every bar with my
own hands--if I have to pick the stones out of the wall! Move along a
few yards; I'm going to lie down on my back, and try what kicking will
do."
No sooner said than done. Rex stretched himself at full length on the
ground, moved up and down to get at the right distance, and began to
assail the grating with a series of such violent kicks as woke a babel
of subterranean echoes. Not in vain he had been the crack "kick" of the
football team at school; not in vain had he exercised his muscles ever
since childhood in scrambling over mountain heights, and taking part in
vigorous out-of-door sports. Norah clasped her hands in a tremor of
excitement. It seemed to her that no fastenings in the world could long
withstand such a battery, and when Rex suddenly sprang to his feet and
charged at the door, she fairly shrieked with exultation.
"Go on! Go on! It shakes! I'm sure it shakes! Oh, Rex, kick! kick
for your life!" It was a superfluous entreaty. The strength of ten men
seemed to be concentrated in the lad for the next ten minutes, as he
fought the iron grating, changing from one position to another, as signs
of increasing weakness appeared in different parts of the framework.
Norah gasped out encouragement in the background, until at last, with a
crash and bang, the old springs gave way, and the grating fell to the
ground.
"Now--come!" shouted Rex. He did not waste a moment in rejoicing; now
that the barrier was removed both he and Norah were possessed with but
one longing--to get out of the passage as quickly as possible into
light, and air, and safety. Two minutes later they were seated side by
side on one of the beams of timber on the cellar floor, gazing into each
other's face with distended eyes. Rex was purple with the strain of his
late efforts--his breath came pantingly, his hair lay in damp rings on
his forehead. Norah's face was ghastly white; she was trembling from
head to foot.
"Thank God!" said Rex solemnly. They were his first words, and Norah
bent her head with a little sob of agitation.
"Oh, thank God! We might have been buried alive in that awful place."
Rex took out his handkerchief and mopped his forehead, looking anxiously
at his companion the while. "You don't think you will be ill, do you,
Norah? You look horribly white."
"Oh no!--oh no! I shall be all right in an hour, but I shall never
forget it. Rex, I think we ought to be awfully good all our lives--we
have had such a wonderful escape, and we know now how it feels-- When I
thought I was never going to come out of that passage, I was sorry I had
been cross to Hilary, and--so selfish! I made up my mind if I had
another chance--"
"I don't believe you have ever done anything wrong, Norah," said Rex, in
a low, husky voice. There was a long silence, then--"My father will
feel inclined to kill me when he hears about this!" he added shortly.
Norah started. "But need we tell them? I don't think it would be wrong
to say nothing about it. We are safe, and it has taught us to be more
careful in future. It would only upset everyone, and make them
miserable, if they knew we had been in such danger. I'll slip quietly
to my room, and it shall be a secret between us, Rex--you and I."
Rex looked at her in silence, with his big, keen eyes. "You are the
best little soul in the world, Norah," he said. "I wish I were like
you!"
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
THE NEW MARY.
Norah was white and subdued for the rest of the evening, but as she was
a stranger to three out of the four members of the household, this
unusual fact attracted little attention. It was taken for granted that,
like Edna, she was exhausted by the excitement of the first music
lesson, and both girls were despatched to bed at an early hour.
Next morning Rex hied off to the Vicarage, to work for a couple of hours
with the vicar, a scholarly recluse, with whom he was reading for
college, and the girls were left alone to pursue their acquaintance.
Conversation naturally turned on Rex, but Edna told the story of his
discontent from a fresh point of view.
"Father doesn't ask him to choose a profession if he would rather go
into business, but he thinks every man is the better for a college
education, and that Rex is too young to decide for himself until he is
twenty-one. If he works till then, he can do what he likes in the
future. But Rex is so obstinate; he thinks he is a man because he is
nearly eighteen, and wants to have his own way at once. It makes father
so angry."
Norah pursed up her lips. She could imagine that a conflict of wills
between the old Squire and his son would be no trifling matter. In
imagination, she saw them standing facing each other, the father ruddy,
bristling, energetic, Rex straight and tall, his lips set, his eyes
gleaming. They were too like each other in disposition for either to
find it easy to give way.
"Boys are a great trial," she said, sighing profoundly. "We have two,
you know--Raymond and Bob. They have gone back to school now, and the
house is so peaceful. I am glad I wasn't born a boy. They never seem
happy unless there is a disturbance going on. But both Rex and your
father seem so fond of you. Can't you coax them round?"
"Oh, I daren't!" Edna looked quite alarmed. "Mother and I never
interfere; we leave them to fight it out between themselves. But if
they go on fighting for the next three years it won't be very lively, I
must say!"
Edna would have been as much surprised as delighted if she had known
that the conflict which had so long destroyed the peace of the household
was at an end, even as she spoke. No one could fail to notice that the
Squire was in an unusually radiant frame of mind at luncheon, or that he
addressed his son with marked favour; but it was not until the drive
home was nearly over, and the gates of Cloudsdale in view, that Rex
enlightened his companion's curiosity on the point. He cleared his
throat once or twice in a curious, embarrassed manner, before he began
to speak.
"Er--Norah--I've something to tell you. When we were shut up in that
hole last night, I was thinking too. The governor has been very good to
me, and it seems ungrateful to stand out about college, when he is so
keen on it. It is only for three years. I--er--I told him this morning
that I would do my best till I was twenty-one, if he would promise to
let me have a free choice after that."
"Oh, Rex, did you? I am so glad. I am sure you will never regret it.
You will always be glad that you did what your father wished, even if it
is hard at the time. I think you are very, very good and kind, and
unselfish."
"All right! You needn't gush. I hate girls who gush," said Rex curtly;
and Norah understood that she was to say no more on the subject, and
collapsed into obedient silence.
It seemed a day of good resolutions, for Norah could not but notice that
Hilary looked ill and was obviously in low spirits. Her greeting had
been more affectionate than usual; nevertheless, the remembrance of the
quarrel of a few days earlier still rankled in Norah's mind, and the
resolutions of yesterday were too fresh to allow her to be satisfied
without a definite reconciliation. The first time they were alone
together, she burst into impetuous apologies. "Oh, Hilary, I wanted to
say that I'm sorry I was cross on Monday. I don't mind a bit about the
drawing-room; alter it in any way you like. Of course you know better
how things should be, after staying in London. I'm sorry I was rude,
but I did dust it, really!"
To her surprise, the tears rose in Hilary's eyes, and she looked
absolutely distressed. "Oh, Norah, don't! I'm sorry too. I didn't
think I had grumbled so much. But Miss Carr's house is so beautiful,
and when I came home--"
"I know. But it looks ever so much nicer in summer, when the doors are
open and the flowers are in bloom. If you like to move the piano, and
make it stand out from the walls, I'll give you my yellow silk for the
drapery. Aunt Amy sent it to me for a dress, but I've never used it."
"Thank you, Norah; it's awfully good of you, but I shall have something
else to do besides draping pianos for the next few weeks, I'm afraid,"
said Hilary dismally. "Mary has given notice!" And the poor little
housekeeper heaved a sigh, for Mary had been a model housemaid, and it
would be a difficult matter to replace her in this quiet country place.
"Mary given notice! Oh, how horrid! I hate strange servants, and she
has been with us so long. Why ever is she--" Norah checked herself with
a quick recollection of the events of the last week, but Hilary did not
shirk the unfinished question.
"She was vexed because I found fault. I felt cross and worried, and
vented it on her. I didn't realise it at the time, but I see now that I
was unreasonable." And to hear Hilary confess a fault was an experience
so extraordinary, that Norah sat dumbfounded, unable to account for the
phenomenon.
The threatened loss of Mary was too important a family event to pass
unnoticed in the general conversation. Lettice was full of
lamentations, and even Rex had a tribute to pay to her excellence. "The
big, strapping girl, who waited on me when I was laid up? Oh, I say,
what a nuisance! I wish she would come to us; she has such a jolly
good-natured face."
"If she came to you, I would never stay at your house again. I'd be too
jealous," said Norah dolefully. "We shall never get anyone like Mary."
"We may be thankful if we get anyone at all. Girls don't like living so
far from the village," groaned Lettice in concert; and the virtues of
Mary, and the difficulties of supplanting her, were discussed at length
throughout the afternoon. Hilary's sense of guilt in the matter made
her even more energetic than usual in her efforts to find a new maid.
She visited the local registry offices, inserted advertisements in the
papers, and wrote reams of letters; and, on the third day, to her
delight, a young woman arrived to apply for the situation. It was the
first time that the duty of interviewing a new servant had devolved upon
Hilary's shoulders, for all three maids had been in the family for
years, and, in her new doubtfulness of self, she would have been glad to
ask the help of Miss Briggs, but that good lady had taken Geraldine for
a walk, and there was no help at hand.
"I don't know if she is afraid of me, but I am certainly terrified of
her!" said poor Hilary, smoothing her hair before the glass, and trying
to make herself look as staid and grown-up as possible. "I don't know
what on earth to say. Lettice, come and sit in the room, there's a
dear, and see what you think of her. I shouldn't like to engage anyone
on my own responsibility." So the two girls went downstairs together,
and Lettice looked on from a quiet corner, while Hilary sat bolt
upright, cross-questioning the new servant. She was a tall, awkward
girl, untidily dressed, with a fly-away hat perched on the top of her
head, a spotted veil drawn over her face, and the shabbiest of boas
wound round her neck. "What a contrast to our nice, trim Mary!" groaned
Lettice to herself, while Hilary cudgelled her brain to think of
appropriate questions.
"And--er--have you been accustomed to housemaid's work?"
"Oh, yes, miss. I'm very handy about a house, miss. I'm sure I could
give you satisfaction, miss."
("I don't like her voice. She has not nearly such nice manners as
Mary," sighed Hilary to herself. "Oh dear me!")
"And--er--can you--er--get up in the morning without being called?"
"Oh yes, miss; I'm fond of early rising. It's never any trouble to me
to get up."
"And--er--we are rather a large family, and I am very particular. Are
you quite strong and able to work?"