“Who’s opened the hole in the wall? It’s open! Who’s there?”

It was Mr. Andrews’ voice. Then came another voice, angry and loud: “Who’s here? Who’s opened this place?”

“Those kids can’t have moved the lever,” said Mr. Andrews. “We bound them up tightly.”

The men, three of them, went quickly through the hole in the wall. Julian climbed up the first few rungs thankfully. Poor Timmy was left in the shadows at the bottom.

Out came the men at a run. “They’ve gone! Their ropes are cut! How could they have escaped? We put Kit down one end of the tunnel and we’ve been walking up this end. Those kids must be about here somewhere.”

“Or hiding in the caves,” said another voice. “Peters, go and look, whilst we hunt here.”

The men hunted everywhere. They had no idea that the vent was nearby in the wall. They did not see the dog that slunk by them like a shadow, keeping out of their way, and lying down whenever the light from a torch came near him.

George climbed steadily, feeling with her feet for the iron nails whenever she came to broken rungs. Then she came to a stop. Something was pressing on her head. What was it? She put up her hand to feel. It was the collection of broken iron bars that Timmy had fallen on that morning. He had dislodged some of them, and they had then fallen in such a way that they had lodged across the vent, all twined into each other. George could climb no higher. She tried to move the bars, but they were heavy and strong — besides, she was afraid she might bring the whole lot on top of her and the others. They might be badly injured then.

“What’s up, George? Why don’t you go on?” asked Jock, who was next.

“There’s some iron bars across the vent — ones that must have fallen when Timmy fell,” said George. “I can’t go any higher! I daren’t pull too hard at the bars.”

Jock passed the message to Dick, and he passed it down to Julian. The four of them came to a full-stop!

“Blow!” said Julian. “I wish I’d gone up first. What are we to do now?”

What indeed? The four of them hung there in the darkness, hating the smell of the sooty old vent, miserably uncomfortable on the broken rungs and nails.

“How do you like adventures now, Jock?” asked Dick. “I bet you wish you were in your own bed at home!”

“I don’t!” said Jock. “I wouldn’t miss this for worlds! I always wanted an adventure — and I’m not grumbling at this one!”

Chapter Nineteen

What an adventure!

And now, what had happened to Anne? She had stumbled on and on for a long time, shouting to Mr. Luffy. And outside his tent Mr. Luffy sat, reading peacefully. But, as the evening came, and then darkness, he became very worried indeed about the five children.