"There may be a secret spring," faltered Cicely, feeling in every direction to find some bolt or knob, but all in vain. Then the horrible truth broke upon them. They were locked up as securely as the legacy! "What are we to do?" Lindsay's pink cheeks were white with alarm. "Let us call. Perhaps the girls are hunting for us still in the passage, and they may hear." Both shouted until they were hoarse, yet there was no reply. This was indeed hide-and-seek with a vengeance. Their game had turned out more than they had bargained for. "I'll bang on the ceiling. It may sound louder than calling," said Lindsay. "The girls must have given us up, and gone downstairs, for nobody seems to hear," she continued, after belabouring the trapdoor for several minutes. "Perhaps they're at tea," suggested Cicely. They examined the little window in the corner, but the fastenings were so rusty from long disuse that, tug as they would, they could not open it. They wiped away the dust and cobwebs from it, and peeped out. "If it overlooks the garden, we could smash the glass and wave a handkerchief, at any rate," proposed Lindsay. "Scott would be almost sure to notice it, even if nobody else were out in the rain." Alas! the window appeared to be securely hidden away among the gables, and absolutely out of sight from below. "Would it be possible to crawl on to the roof?" Lindsay shook her head in reply. The frame was too small for even the slim Cicely to squeeze through. The girls sat down and surveyed the piles of treasure around them with dismay. If they had required a sermon on the vanity of riches, it was there without any need of words. "We can't eat bank notes, nor sleep on beds of sovereigns," remarked Lindsay at last. "We may be shut up here for days and days before they find us," said Cicely blankly. "They'll miss us directly, of course; but they won't know where to look. Even if they peeped inside the settle, they wouldn't be any the wiser." "Do you remember the piece of poetry we read last week about Ginevra? She hid inside a chest on her wedding day, when they were playing hide-and-seek, and the lid snapped with a spring lock. They never found her--only her bones, years afterwards!" "Don't talk of such horrible things." "How long does it take people to starve?" continued Cicely in a tremulous voice. "About ten days, I believe. They grow gradually weaker and weaker." Cicely groaned. "There isn't anything to drink either, and I'm getting so thirsty," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "We must try again," declared Lindsay, jumping up. "Let us pull out another trunk, and manage to lift it on to the chest. I believe if I were nearer the ceiling I should be able to push harder."