"I won't have any of you swine telling me what to do or what not to do," declared Larry with cold fury. "I'm the big noise here. If anyone's got any different ideas about it now's the time to have it out." He paused for a moment as if waiting for someone to take up his challenge. It was met with a dead silence. He had reasserted his ascendency. He made a gesture of ineffable contempt. "Huh, you squealing lot of rats. Let that split up, Bill. If he opens his mouth again fetch him one across the jaw." As Labar got awkwardly to his feet Larry wheeled upon him. "And you, you big spawn, I mean what I say. All the chance that you've got is that we get clear away. So put your thinking cap on." "That's the stuff," ejaculated Bill Bungey, "I'm with you." He poked a forefinger stiffly into Labar's ribs. "O-u-t spells out and out you go." Larry's burst of temper cooled down. He was in perfect possession of himself when next he spoke. "I'm going to call your bluff, Labar. I'm going to see if your people have blocked every way out. You'd better hope for your own sake that they haven't. Come on Tom--and you Billy. The rest of you keep an eye on this man." He crept away accompanied by the two men he had designated farther along the tunnel. By straining his ears Labar heard another steel door creak back. Apparently the tunnel towards its seaward end was also guarded. Larry and his two companions guided by the gleam of an electric torch moved swiftly along the damp tunnel. The leader was thoughtful. "Billy," he said, "I'm not sure that we haven't overplayed our hand. If that fellow's telling the truth we're booked for trouble." "I begin to wish we hadn't snaffled him," said Billy. "He might not have run across that panel. If he'd overlooked it we were O.K. We'd simply have had to wait till they made up their minds we had cleared off." "I know the breed," retorted Larry with a shake of his head. "Once he got the idea in his head he was bound to go on with it. Some of these Johns may not have any brains, but they stick to an idea. He'd have pulled the house down to make sure. We may not be out of the wood, but we've got a breathing spell." Billy grunted uncertainly and Larry emitted a sharp order for quiet beneath his breath. The tunnel was rising at a sharp angle and narrowed so rapidly that they were compelled to take single file and crawl. Rough timbers supported the top for the last twenty yards or so and then for about the length of a man the way finished in an acute angle of about forty-five degrees. Larry, who was leading, stretched himself at full length and, stealthily withdrawing some bolts, raised a trap-door of about two feet square a matter of inches, and peered without. Satisfied with his preliminary scrutiny he pushed the trap higher and crawled to the outer air.