Beckoning to Phillips to follow him, the Leader began to edge carefully through the gap in the stonework. Could he but gain a footing in the room and await his Second's entrance without alarming the occupant of the chair, there was a possibility that the rascal, taken by surprise, might be seized and secured. The Scout was almost through. One foot was actually on the floor, when Green accidentally knocked the staff to which the silver bowl was slung. With a crash and a clatter the heavy metal ornament went rolling down the spiral stairs, cannoning against the ankles of Scott and Sayers as it did so. In a trice the fellow in the chair was on his feet. "The game's up," he exclaimed. "Come out of that or it will be the worse for you." CHAPTER XVI TRAPPED ATHERTON stood stock still, his eyes fixed upon the small suggestive muzzle of a revolver levelled at his head. It was horribly disconcerting. He was unable to go forward; his movements were hampered. Nor could he retreat with the possibilities of being shot at staring him in the face. The tension was acute whilst it lasted, but the Scout was greatly relieved to hear the voice of Polglaze, the detective, exclaim: "In the name of thunder what have you Scouts been up to?" Atherton hastened to complete the awkward crawl through the opening, the rest of his companions following. The detective, with wonderment written on every line of his face, examined the revolving stonework, patting it with his hands and testing the cunningly concealed mechanism. "Well, this beats everything," he exclaimed. "I've been investigating this room for hours, tried the floor, walls and ceiling, and not a suspicion of a secret passage did I discover, Yet, from a logical point of view, there must have been some means of escape other than by the door, which was locked. How on earth did you fellows find this out?" "We walked along a tunnel from Seal Island," explained Atherton. "It leads to the ruins in the centre of the Island. And we've found some of the booty, Mr Polglaze." "You have?" The detective's jaw dropped slightly. Visions of a substantial reward slipping through his fingers accounted for his tone of disappointment. "Where?" "In a side passage out of the main tunnel. There's a large silver bowl at the bottom of these steps, and each of us have smaller articles." One by one the Scouts placed on the table the spoons and forks they had discovered. Polglaze snatched one up and examined. "Yes, that's part of Sir Silas' stuff," he announced. "Is that all you've found?" "Yes, sir," answered Atherton. "With the bowl, of course." "Then there's a heap more to be recovered," said the detective. "Tell me about the tunnel." Polglaze listened attentively and in silence to the Scout's narrative. "You are quite sure you examined every part of the tunnel?" he asked, when Atherton had finished. "There is no place where Tassh might hide that you neglected to make sure of?" "I think not, sir."