The journey on all fours ended at a heavy grating, through which faint daylight was peeping. Through the barred opening the outlook was into a deep ravine, with a small stream coursing at the bottom, and a dense growth of small timber and bushes rising to the level on all sides. Directly opposite the entrance of the drain, in a small clearing on the high ground across the gully, the broad windows of a stone cottage reflected the glare of the slowly rising sun. "There is nothing else to do, my friends, but to lay low until brother Roque completes the scouring of this section. We are well on the way but not yet out of the woods, as the saying is." This was the view of the chief, and his views were seldom questioned. It was a rather gloomy prospect, this crouching wait in quarters so confined, but the secret service men counted nothing a hardship, and the boys had to possess themselves in patience. The capacious pockets of the huckster's greatcoat, with which Anglin had not parted, despite its weight, in the long crawl, contained a supply of food, taken from the baskets before starting. From the avenue that lay between the ravine and the grounds about the house which they had recently quitted, the cramped company in the drain could hear the rumble of traffic, and once they heard voices in close proximity to their hiding place. "Giving them something to puzzle about, eh, Gervais?" "Rather a fuddle for them, chief," agreed the cool one, "and the best of it all, they don't know whom they're after, unless it be these youngsters." "Oh, I propose that the boys shall be found in due time, but the balance of us will keep dodging to the best of our ability." "Some ability, too, believe me, boss," was Billy's contribution. "Well, I believe we can hold our own," complacently observed Fred. With the wearing of the long day, the prospect of liberation eased the trial of the later hours. As night fell apace, the first greeting to it was the glow of a lamp in one of the windows of the stone cottage. Gervais moved close to the grating, and fixed intent gaze upon this illumination. In the course of a half-hour his vigilance was rewarded by a sight that he evidently anticipated. Somebody was repeatedly crossing and recrossing the patch of light, now and then deliberately standing in front of the lamp. That "somebody" was making dots and dashes as plain as day to the trained vision of the receiving expert. "The coast is clear," he announced. A little pressure and the bars were down. Out into the night crept the weary five, with the luxurious experience of once more standing erect and having a good stretch. Having replaced the grating in the drain entrance to a nicety, Gervais led the way down the steep slope of the ravine to the creek, which Billy and Henri attempted to drink dry, so great was their thirst.