Chapter III: "a Private Conversation"

That little, low door; the dusty steps leading down into the unknown darkness; the strange, musty smell--all this was too much for Donald. If only Eric his Sixer were there, he would not be afraid. But alone!--no, he dared not venture down. Turning round, he let himself out of the secret room, and carefully closed the panel. Standing on the bare, deserted landing, he looked about him. Was he dreaming? Had he somehow walked into a fairy tale? The oak-panelled wall showed no signs, now, of the secret lying behind it. Suddenly Donald felt a great longing to see the other Cubs. Turning round, he ran as fast as he could along the passages, and down the stairs. Once through the green baize door that separated the left wing from the rest of the castle all was familiar and reassuring. His footsteps no longer echoed as he ran; in fact, you could not hear them as he stepped on the thick, soft carpet. It was warm, here, and he could hear the friendly crackle of the great log fire down in the hall. And then--welcome sound!--the front door opened and the Cubs came in, talking cheerfully of their game out on the hills. Tea in the old dining-room was a noisy meal: but Donald did not join in the noise. He was thinking of the extraordinary thing he had discovered.

As soon as tea was over he called his Sixer aside.

"I say," he whispered, "I want to speak to you privately--very privately."

"Right-o!" said Eric, "come on--we'll go into the library, no one will hear us there."

And so, squatting on the floor, among the ancient books, Donald told his friend the story of his strange discovery.

Eric's eyes grew bright, and his face flushed with excitement as he heard all Donald had to tell. Here, at last, was a real adventure! It had always been knights, or princes in fairy tales, or boys who ran away and went to sea, who had splendid things like that happen to them. But at last the chance had come his way!

. . . . . . . .

The next morning the two boys, white with excitement, stole along the quiet passages of the left wing, hand in hand. They both carried candles. Donald was armed with a stout stick, but his Sixer had insisted on bringing his air-gun and an old dagger out of the armoury. "There'll be some dirty work if we meet the spy!" said Eric (remembering how he had heard his soldier cousin talk). "I say, have you got the coil of rope all right? We'll set on him and take him prisoner. Then he'll be tried, and shot at the Tower of London, I expect. And we shall be the chief witnesses." He breathed hard through his clenched teeth: the fighting blood of the Stones was up.

At last they came to the gallery where the walls were made of dark oak, carved with a pattern of roses. Together the boys counted the roses in a whisper, till they came to the twenty-seventh. Then Donald worked the hidden spring, and the two Cubs stepped through the opening in the wall, into the secret room. Closing the panel again from the inside, they looked about them. The cans and barrels were piled up to the very ceiling. "It's petrol, right enough," said Eric, examining the tins. "And a good many hundred gallons, too. Not much '1640' about _this_! Oh, the _beasts_! Fancy using Stone Castle as their base!" He gripped his dagger fiercely, and looked about him. "Come on," he whispered a moment later, as, having lighted his candle, he stepped through the low, dark archway, and started to walk carefully down the spiral staircase.

It was giddy work, this progress round and round and down, in the flickering yellow light of the candles. The boys' shadows looked like strange, black monsters on the walls. At last they reached level ground, and a long, dark passage opened before them. It smelt damp and earthy; great drops of mildew stood on the stone walls. With their hearts thumping with excitement the Cubs stepped forward.

They had walked what seemed to them some three or four hundred yards, when Eric suddenly called, "Stop--look out!" The passage had ended abruptly in another spiral staircase. Walking very carefully, the Cubs began to descend. Down, down, down they wound in the darkness, till they began to get giddy. Then, once more, they were on the level.

"Another passage!" said Donald. "Oh, Eric, I'm jolly glad I didn't go without you!"

"Buck up," said his Sixer, cheerfully.

"What if we are outnumbered?" suggested Donald.

"Oh, we'll ... we'll ... we'll DO OUR BEST!" ended Eric, with a happy thought.

An icy blast was blowing up the passage, and it felt very damp. There was a soft, whispering sound ahead.

"It's the sea!" said Eric. "Come on."

They walked on for about ten yards, then turned a sharp corner. "Daylight!" whispered the boys in one breath, drawing back into cover. Sure enough, the light of day was streaming through a great jagged hole, far above. There was no sound, save the murmur of the sea, so the Cubs crept on, round the bend.

They were in a large cave, dimly lighted from the hole in the wall, above them. They were standing on what seemed like a small quay. Before them, black water moved softly, making a gurgling, sucking sound, as it gushed forth and drew back through a long, low opening in the further wall of the cave.

"We come right down to the sea, below the cliff," said Eric. "This must be one of the old smugglers' caves. It's full of water because the shore, down here, is never quite out of the water, you know."

The boys stole forward to the edge of the quay and peered down into the black water, a foot or two below them.

"Look!" whispered Donald, suddenly, pointing downward. Moored to an iron ring on the quay was a curious looking object. "It's just like a submarine," said Eric, "only much, much too small. But I say," he added, bending over the boat, "it _is_ a submarine--a tiny one! Now, I see it all! They put heaps of petrol in this, and just one or perhaps two men to work it; and then, when the tide is up, they dive, and get out of the cave by that opening, ahead. The German submarine comes up as near as it dares, and, at dead of night, this little boat gives it as much petrol as it wants. By Jove--we _have_ found something!"