Five on a Secret Trail (12 page)

Harry found no difficulty at all. „I"m used to this kind of thing," he said. „Guy and I have explored a whole lot of tunnels and caves in hil s and other places."

George was pointing her torch at a broad ledge of rock. On it was a brown leather bag, and beside it, marked on the rock, was a very large arrow indeed.

Julian was overjoyed. He picked up the bag at once. „My word - I hope there"s something in it!" he said. „It feels jol y light - as if it"s empty!"

„Open it!" cried everyone - but Julian couldn"t. It was locked - and alas, there wasn"t a key!

„Its locked - we can"t open the bag," said Julian, and shook it vigorously as if that might make it fly open and spill whatever contents it had!

„We don"t know if it"s got anything of value in it or not," said Dick, in deep disappointment.

„I mean - it might be some trick on that fel ow Paul"s part - he might have taken the blue-prints, or whatever they were he hid, for himself, and left the bag just to trick the others."

„Can we cut it open?" asked George.

„No. I don"t think so. It"s made of real y strong leather. We would need a special knife to cut through it - an ordinary pen-knife wouldn"t be any use," said Julian. „I think we"ll just have to assume that we"ve got the goods, and hope for the best. If they"re not in here, it"s just bad luck. Someone else has got them, if so."

They all looked at the tantalizing bag.

Now they would have to wait for ages before they found out whether their efforts had been successful or not!

„Well - what do we do now?" said George, feeling suddenly flat. „Go back al through that long tunnel once more? I"l be glad to be in the open air again, won"t you?"

„Rather!" said Julian. „Well - I suppose we"d better get down through that hole again."

„Wait!" said Anne, her sharp eyes catching sight of something. „Look - what does al this mean?"

She shone her torch on to various signs on the wall.

Again there were arrows drawn in white chalk - but, very oddly, a line of them ran downwards across the wall of the little rocky room, right to the edge of the hole - and another line of arrows pointing the other way, ran horizontal y across the wall!

„Well - do you suppose that"s just meant to muddle people?" said Dick, puzzled. „We know jolly wel that the way out of this room is down that hole, because that"s the way we came into it."

„Perhaps the other line of arrows means that there"s a second way out," suggested George. They all looked round the little rocky room. There didn"t seem any way out at all.

„Where"s Timmy?" said Anne, suddenly, flashing her torch round. „He"s not here! Has he fallen down the hole? I never heard him yelp!"

At once there was a great to-do. „Timmy, Timmy, Timmy! TIMMY! Where are you?"

George whistled shril y, and the noise echoed round and round the little room. Then, from somewhere, there was a bark. How relieved everyone was.

„Where is he? Where did that bark come from?" said Dick. „It didn"t sound as if it came from below, down that hole!"

There came another welcome bark, and the sound of Timmy"s feet. Then to everyone"s amazement, he appeared in the little rocky room as if by magic - appearing straight out of the wall, it seemed!

„Timmy! Where were you? Where have you come from!" cried George, and ran to see.

She came to a standstil and exclaimed loudly.

„Oh! What idiots we are! Why, just behind this big jutting-out piece of rock, there"s another passage!"

So there was! A very, very narrow one, it is true - and completely hidden from the children because of tlie enormous slab of rock that jutted out from the wall and hid it! They stood and stared at it, shining their torches on the narrow way. The arrows ran round the wall to it.

„We never even looked properly!" said Dick. „Stil - it"s a passage that would be extremely dificult to spot - hidden round the corner of that rock - and very narrow at that. Well, I do know one thing for certain about that man called Paul!"

„What?" asked Anne.

„He"s thin - thin as a rake!" said Dick. „No one but a skinny fel ow could squeeze through this opening! I doubt if you can, Julian - you"re the biggest of us."

„Well, what about trying'?" said George. „What does everyone say? This might be an easier, shorter way out - or it might be a harder, longer one."

„It won"t be longer," said Harry. „By my reckoning we must be pretty well near the Camp now. It"s likely that the way leads straight there - though where it comes out I can"t imagine. Guy and I have explored the Camp pretty thoroughly."

Dick suddenly thought of something he hid noticed at the Camp - the big hole behind the slab of stone, where he had seen the baby rabbit a day or two before! What had Guy said about that? He had said there was a great hole underground, which had been explored - but that it was probably just an ancient storage place for food or for loot! He turned eagerly to Harry.

„Harry - would this lead to that enormous hole underground - the one that Guy once told me had been explored, but was of no interest - probably just an old store-place'?"

„Let me see," said Harry. „Yes - yes, it might lead to that. Most of these underground ways are throughways - ways that lead from one place to another. They don"t as a rule stop suddenly, but have usually been of use as secret escape-routes or something of that kind.

I think you may be right, Dick - we"re fairly near the Camp, I"m sure, and we may quite well find that if we go on, instead of going back, we shal come into the Camp itself -

probably through that great hole!"

„Then come on," said Julian. „It wil certainly be a shorter way!"

They tried to squeeze through the narrow opening that led out of the little rocky room.

Dick got through all right, and so did the others - but poor Julian found it very very dificult and almost gave up.

„You shouldn"t eat so much," said Dick, unkindly. „Go on - one more try, Ju - I"l haul on your arm at the same time!"

Julian got through, groaning. „I"m squashed flat!" he said. „Now, if anyone makes any more jokes about too much breakfast, I"l pul his nose!"

The passage grew wider immediately, and everyone was thankful. It ran fairly straight, and then went steeply downwards, so that the five slithered about, and Timmy found himself suddenly running. Then it came to a stop - a complete stop! This time it was not a blank wall of rock that faced them - it was something else.

„A roof-fall!" groaned Dick. „Look at that! Now we"re done!"

It certainly looked most formidable. Earth, rocks and stones had fal en from the roof and blocked up the whole passage-way. There was no use in going on - they would just have to turn and go back!

„Blow it!" said Dick, and kicked at the mass of earth. „Well - there"s no use staying here -

we"d better turn back. My torch isn"t too good now, and neither is yours, George. We don"t want to lose any time - if our torches give out, we shall find things very difficult."

They turned to go back, feeling very despondent. „Come on, Timmy!" said George. But Timmy didn"t come. He stood beside the roof-fal , looking very puzzled, his ears cocked and his head on one side. Then he suddenly gave a sharp bark.

It made everyone jump almost out of their skins, for the sound echoed round and about in a very queer way.

„Don"t, Timmy!" said George, almost angrily. „Whatever"s the matter? Come along!"

But Timmy didn"t come. He began to paw at the pile of earth and rocks in front of him, and barked without stopping. Wuff-wuff-wuff-wuff-wuff-WUFF!

„What"s up?" said Julian, startled. „Timmy, what on earth"s the matter?"

Timmy took absolutely no notice, but went on feverishly scraping at the roof-fal , sending earth and stones flying all over the others.

„There"s something he wants to get at - something behind this roof-fall," said Dick. „Or perhaps somebody - make him stop barking, George, and we"ll listen ourselves and see if we can hear anything."

George silenced Timmy with difficulty, and made him stand quiet and stil . Then they al listened intently - and a sound came at once to their ears.

„Yap-yap-wuff-wuff-wuff!"

„It"s Jet!" yelled Harry, making everyone jump violently again. „Jet! Then Guy must be with him. He never leaves Guy! What"s Guy doing here? He may be hurt. GUY! GUY! Jet!"

Timmy began to bark wildly again and to scrape more furiously than ever. Julian shouted to the others above the barking.

„If we can hear Jet barking, this roof-fal can"t be very big. We"d better try and get through it. Two of us can work in turn with Timmy. We can"t all work at once, the passage is too narrow."

Then began some very hard work - but it didn"t last as long as Julian feared, because, quite suddenly, the mass of rubble and rock shifted as they worked, and a gap appeared at the top of the heap, between it and the roof.

Dick began to scramble up, but Julian called to him at once. „Be careful, ass! The roof can"t be too good here - it may come down again, and you"l be buried. Go careful y!"

But before Dick could go any further, a little figure appeared on the top of the rubble above their heads, and slid down to them yapping loudly, and waving a long wiry tail!

„Jet! Oh, Jet! Where"s Guy?" cried Harry, as the little dog leapt into his arms and licked his face lavishly, barking joyfully in between the licks.

„GUY!" yelled Julian. „Are you there?"

A weak voice came back. „Yes! Who"s that?" An absolute volley of voices anwered him.

„It"s us! And Harry! We"re coming to you, we shan"t be long!"

And it wasn"t long, either, before the roof-fal was slowly and careful y climbed by each one - though Timmy, of course, scrambled up, over and down at top speed!

On the other side of the roof-fall was a passage, of course, the continuation of the one the children had come along. Guy was there, sitting down, looking very pale. Jet flung himself on him and licked him as if he hadn"t seen him for a month, instead of just a minute or two before!

„Hal o!" said Guy, in a small voice. „I"m al right. It"s just my ankle, that"s all. I"m jolly glad to..."

But before he could say a word more, Harry was beside him, his arms round him, his voice choking.

„Guy! Oh, Guy! I"ve been a beast, I wouldn"t be friends! What happened to you? Are you real y all right? Oh Guy, we are friends again, aren"t we?"

„Look out Harry, old son," said Julian gently. „He"s fainted. Now just let"s be sensible and everything wil come al right. Flap your hanky at him, Dick, and give him a little air. It"s only the excitement!"

In half a minute Guy opened his eyes and smiled weakly. „Sorry!" he said. „I"m all right now. I only hope this isn"t a dream, and that you real y are here!"

„You bet we are!" said Dick. „Have a bit of chocolate, then you"l know we"re real!"

„Good idea!" said Julian. „We"ll all have some - and I"ve some biscuits in my pocket too.

We"ll eat and talk - and we"ll make plans at the same time. Catch, Guy - here"s a biscuit!"

Guy soon told his story. It was much as the others had imagined.

„I was fast asleep this morning, with Jet curled up to me," he said. „He began to bark and I wondered why, so I got up to see - and I saw four people in the camp."

„The four we know!" said Dick, and Julian nodded. „Go on, Guy."

„They were looking al over the place," said Guy, „prising up rocks, messing about - so I yelled at them. But they only laughed. Then one of the men, who was trying to prise up a slab - the slab that covers that great hole underground, Harry - you remember it? - wel , this man gave a yel and said „I"ve got it! This is the way in - down here, behind this slab!"

Guy stopped, looking very angry. Jet licked him comfortably. „Well," he went on, „I set Jet on them, and they kicked him cruel y - so I went for them."

„You"re a plucky one, aren"t you!" said Dick, admiringly. „Did you knock them all out, by any chance?"

„No. Of course not," said Guy. „One of the men pretty well knocked me out though. He hit me on the head and I went down, dazed. I heard him say “drat this kid - he"l be fetching help, and we shan"t be able to get down and hunt for the goods.” And then another man said “We"ll take him with us then,” and they got hold of me and dragged me through the opening."

„But how did they get down into that great hole?" said Harry in wonder. „There is such a steep drop into it. You need a rope."

„Oh, they had a rope all right," said Guy, munching his biscuit and chocolate and looking decidedly better. „One of the men had one tied round and round his waist. They knotted it fast round a rock - that big one we can"t move, Harry - and then they swung down on it.

Al except the woman. She said she"d stay at the top and keep watch. She hid behind a bush some way off."

„I never saw her when I came along!" said Harry. „I never thought of looking there! What about you? Did you get down too?"

„Yes. I screamed and shouted and kicked and howled, but it wasn"t a bit of good. They made me swing down the rope - and I fel off half-way down and hurt my ankle. I howled at the top of my voice for help, and they hurried me along with them, shaking me like a rat."

„The beasts!" said Harry, fervently. „Oh, the beasts!"

„I heard one of them say that there should be a tunnel out of the hole somewhere, it was marked on Paul"s plan - whatever that may be - and then I think I must have fainted - the pain of my ankle, you know. And when I came to myself again, we were al here, the three men and I - beside this roof-fall - though I really don"t know how we got here. They must have dragged me along with them!"

„And that"s all, is it?" asked Julian.

„Not quite. They were furious when they saw the roof-fal , but as soon as they began to scrabble in it a rock rol ed down and hit one of the men quite a crack - and after that they were afraid to do anything. They stood and talked for a bit - and then they decided to go and get some tools, and come down again to see if they could remove al this stuff and get through it."