The figure of a boy was creeping towards him--creeping, as it seemed to him, from the shadows in the tunnel. Who--who was it? Was it really a being of flesh and blood? At first it seemed to him that it must be the wraith of the little fellow about whom he had been speaking--Hibbert--but even as the thought filtered through his mind the boy was kneeling beside him, looking anxiously into his face.

It was Moncrief minor.

"Harry!" cried Paul in amazement.

"Are you all right?" came in a whisper from the boy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THE BOY WAS KNEELING BESIDE HIM,--IT WAS MONCRIEF MINOR.... 'ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?' CAME IN A WHISPER FROM THE BOY."]

"Right enough, but not altogether comfortable. Where in the name of wonder did you spring from?"

"Is there any chance of that man you called Zuker coming back?"

"No; you may be sure of that."

"Then, first, let me get that rope off."

Paul, as may be imagined, was by no means opposed to that proceeding. So Harry drew out his pocket-knife and promptly severed his bonds.

"Ah, that's better," cried Paul, springing to his feet and stretching his limbs. "It's worth while being tied up, so as to feel how nice it is to be free again. Now perhaps you'll tell me how you got here?"

"There's really no fear of that man, Zuker, coming back?"

"No; I'm sure of it."

"Then I'll explain. First of all, I must tell you that I've done a mean thing. You lost a letter when that scrimmage took place between you and Stan in the Common Room. I found it, and seeing that it was from my father, read it; then I was too ashamed to give it back to you, so I kept it. Hearing that there'd been a meeting about you in the Forum, I took the letter to Stan and showed it to him. As I came away from interviewing Stan, I saw you hurrying through the gates. You looked round, and seemed anxious that no one should see you. That made me curious. I'd just been reading my father's letter to you--remember. I'd begun to see there was some mystery which wanted clearing up. Why shouldn't I have a hand in it? I asked myself. So forgive me, Paul, I followed you."

Paul was silent. How could he blame him? Was it not the same spirit of curiosity which had first led him to that place?

"It was fortunately dusk, and I took good care that you shouldn't see me," continued Harry. "Besides, you seemed to be so taken up with your own thoughts that you scarcely looked round once when you had gained the common. It was easy following you after that. I was never so puzzled in my life when I saw you creeping about amongst the bushes, then disappear through the ground.

"I was so close to you then, that I saw the exact place where you had disappeared, so that it did not take me long to find the opening to the tunnel. I must say that I funked following you farther; but my curiosity grew. I was on the verge of a big discovery. If I followed you, I should find out the secret which would explain the mystery about you, and set you right with the school. Believe me, Paul, that was what I longed for, and I don't think that anything short of that would have made me go farther, and so I felt my way along the tunnel until I could just see you stretched at full length beside the curtains at the entrance to this place."

Paul recalled the sounds he had heard as he made his way along the tunnel. His hearing had not deceived him after all.

"I was still more amazed when I saw that, I can tell you. I was struck all of a heap," went on Harry. "What were you up to? What were you doing there? You seemed to be watching for somebody. Who? I was burning. I got more and more curious. All thought of turning back had gone. I must find out what it all meant. So, when you rose to your feet, and stepped cautiously into this chamber, I just as cautiously crept to the place where you had been lying, and watched you moving about. Then I saw the man you called Zuker enter, and all that went on after.

"It was fearful, Paul. I saw you were in a fix, but I could do nothing to help you. Once I tried to cry out. It was when that man used the long foreign word. I did not understand what it meant at first, though you seemed to; but presently, when you began to say 'Our Father,' I knew what it meant. Then it was I tried to cry out, but no word came from my parched throat. I think it must have been G.o.d who prevented me from crying out, for had I done so, it might have been worse for both of us.

"A minute later I could see that a great change had come over the man when you began speaking about your father and Hibbert. Then I was knocked all of a heap again when I learned that poor little Hibbert was the man's son, and that you knew it. I think that the time I pa.s.sed while I was watching and listening behind the curtain was the most awful I have ever been through--yes, worse than the time on the raft, and that's saying a great deal; but there was one good thing about it--I was beginning to see how we had all wronged you at Garside--what a n.o.ble fellow you really are, Paul."

"Humbug! Get on."

"There's little more to tell. I didn't so much mind when the man bound you, especially as I saw that he was going to leave you. I waited till he had gone--long enough to make sure that he didn't mean popping in his head again; then I crept from my hiding-place. The rest you know. I hope you're not sorry I followed you?"

Paul began to think that the hand of G.o.d was in this, as it had been in so many other things. It must have been Something Higher than mere chance which had prompted Harry to follow him to that place.

"Heaven only knows what might have happened to me, Harry, if you hadn't followed me. But come, we mustn't waste any more time. We don't want to spend the night in this place."

"Not quite, though I would not mind exploring it some other time,"

exclaimed Harry, gazing round the chamber curiously. "Plunger would give something to strike on a place like this. It's chalks better than desert islands. Where does that other pa.s.sage-way lead to?"

Paul had more than once put the same question to him self. That place of mystery had often been in his thoughts since the day he had first visited it, and frequently had he asked himself--Where does it lead to on the other side? He had now seen clearly enough that there must be some way out on the other side, for Zuker had gone that way. If he could only find out, the information might be of some service to Harry's father.

"I don't know, Harry; but I'd very much like to find out. Would you mind waiting here for a few minutes? I won't be long."

"What are you going to do?"

"Going to explore--just a little way. The coast's clear."

"Going to explore? Well, then, I do mind waiting here. If you mean exploring, I mean going with you."

"Very well, Harry, we'll explore together."

So the two boys pa.s.sed together through the pa.s.sage on the other side of the chamber.

CHAPTER XLVIII

THE BURNING SHIP

The two boys had not gone very far before they came to a pause. It was impossible to see more than a few feet in front of them because of the darkness.

"Let's try to get a light," suggested Paul. "We can get one, I think, in the place we've just come from."

They returned to the chamber. Paul entered the recess from which Zuker had brought the rope and the cushions, and found that it was quite a storehouse; one part of it for provisions, tinned meats, fruits, fish; another for wood, tools, weapons, models; a third, for a curiously mixed wardrobe, which Paul guessed served the purpose of disguise. Here he found a lantern and matches, and thus provided with a light, they resumed their way.

The gallery or tunnel along which they now pa.s.sed was about two hundred feet long. The width, as Paul roughly judged, was about thirteen feet, narrowing to some six or seven feet at the top. It had been cut through the chalk bed, at a depth of about six feet below the sand which covered it. At the end of this gallery were two pa.s.sages, extending right and left. Pa.s.sing down the former, they found it blocked by heaps of sand and chalk.

"It's quite certain we can't get out that way, Harry," said Paul; "we'd better try the other."

So, retracing their footsteps once more, they pa.s.sed along the other pa.s.sage. It was not so wide as the one they had already traversed, but the way was clear for a hundred yards or so; then the tunnel came abruptly to an end.

Paul regarded the wall in wonder. There was no way through it. Where, then, had Zuker gone? How had he managed to get out? Paul held the lantern up and examined the roof. It was clear to see that he was standing below what had once been the shaft to the tunnel. There were footholes in the sides.

"Ah, there's the way out! Hold the lantern, Harry, while I try to find the open sesame," said Paul.

Harry took the lantern, and Paul quickly made his way by means of the footholes to the top. He could then see that there was a square s.p.a.ce which, though similar in appearance to the rest of the gallery, concealed the entrance to the shaft. He pushed it upward. It gave easily. It was a trap-door, leading into a square, ramshackle shed!

Paul made his way through into the shed, and a minute later Harry followed his example. They closed the trap-door, which then formed part of the floor, and completely concealed the opening into the shaft.

"Well, if that doesn't beat all!" exclaimed Harry, as the trap-door fell. "Mr. Zuker and his confederates must have been very tricky. No one would imagine what's beneath this old shed. Hallo! What's that?"

As Harry spoke a lurid gleam of light lit up the semi-darkness of the shed; only for an instant; then it as quickly died out.

"Seems like a fire somewhere," said Paul, as he tried to open the door of the shed; but it would not open. It was locked on the outside.