“There’s no perhaps about it, Monsieur,” he said impatiently. “I belong to this part of the country. And when I was a boy, I used to play in this château with the children of an old gardener who was the caretaker of it. One day he pointed out to us a ring affixed to the wall of one of the cellars and said: ‘That’s a hiding-place that is. I’ve often been told of how they put valuables into it--gold candlesticks and clocks and jewelry.’” These revelations made the Baron and his friends open their eyes. De Bennetot however raised an objection. He said: “But we’ve already searched the cellars.” “Not thoroughly,” Ralph declared. “I’m going to show you.” They made for the cellars by the quickest way, a staircase at the end of the left wing which descended to the basement from the outside of the building. Two large doors opened on to three or four steps, after which came a series of vaulted chambers. “The third on the left,” said Ralph, who, in the course of the tour he had made through them, had studied the ground. “Here ... this one.” He made them all precede him, through a door so low that they had to stoop to enter it, into a dark cellar. “You can’t see an inch before your face,” grumbled Rufus d’Estiers. “That’s true,” said Ralph. “But here are some matches and I saw a candle-end on one of those steps into the cellars. Half a minute--I’ll run for it.” He shut the door of the cellar, turned the key quietly, took it out of the door, and called out to his prisoners: “Mind you light all the seven branches of the candlestick. You will find it under the last slab carefully wrapped up in spiders’ webs!” Before he got outside the building he heard the five of them hammering furiously at the door. He was sure that, worm-eaten and shaky, it would hold out but a very few minutes. But that was all the time he wanted. He rushed up on to the terrace. A workman was demolishing the fourth of the little brick pillars. Ralph took his pick from him, saying: “Hand it over, mate. The proprietor has just told me what to do.” “Shall I help you?” said the workman. “There’s no need, thanks.” Ralph hurried to the ninth pillar, and knocked the vase off it with a stroke of his pick. Then he attacked the top of the pillar, which was covered with cracked cement, which fell to pieces under his blows. Under the cement cap the pillar was hollow, and the hollow had been filled with earth and pebbles. Ralph started to clear them out quickly with the point of his pick. And about a foot down it turned up a piece of corroded metal. A glance showed him that it was veritably a branch of one of those great candlesticks one sees on the altars of many churches. A group of workmen had gathered round him and at seeing this piece of metal which Ralph picked up and waved in the air, they cheered. It was the first discovery that had been made since they began work.