“Oh, yes, Steve,” came the quick reply. “I want them very much.”

Shaking his head, Steve climbed out of the shaft and pulled up the second rope. When he had drawn it to the top, he tied the pick and shovel to it and lowered away. As soon as he heard the implements strike bottom, he was on his way down the shaft.

He lowered himself quickly, the rope sliding between his hands. The darkness closed in about him, and a strong current of air from above beat upon his head. He took one quick look up at the sky and saw the heavy gray clouds overhead, then he turned away. He didn’t have far to go when Pitch flashed the light upon him, then switched it off again. Steve figured that Pitch was saving the battery, but he thought it unnecessary since they had brought along four extra batteries.

The light came on again and Steve saw Pitch’s face behind the glow as his feet found the stone floor.

“Notice how smooth it is,” Pitch said, flashing the light downward. “We’re not the first here by any means. Look here too, Steve.”

He flashed the light over the yellow walls on either side of them, and then directed it toward the ceiling, which was so low that the two of them had to stand in a crouched position beneath it. “This tunnel is partly natural in formation, Steve. It could have been cut as far back as the Ice Age, then pushed up by some giant upheaval.” Pitch paused, then added with great awe, “But a lot of it has been worked out by hand. Notice the perfect regularity of the cutting on each side and on the ceiling here.”

Steve’s eyes were following the beam of light. “By whose hands?” he asked.

“The Spaniards, Steve, the Spaniards,” Pitch returned quickly. “They probably started work on it early in the sixteenth century and continued for well over a hundred and fifty years—until shortly after 1669, I’d say.”

“How do you know, Pitch? Why are you so sure it was the Spaniards?”

Without a word Pitch took Steve by the arm and led him up an incline, flashing the light ahead of them. Steve’s back was almost touching the low ceiling. His sense of direction told him they were going toward the sea and that they still must be directly beneath the ledge. Suddenly Pitch switched off the light. A few yards ahead, Steve saw three narrow slits of daylight coming through the rock.