Bill's electric torch now served a useful purpose, augmented by the light of several candles. The rest of the "Wolves" were quickly on the scene, and in quite a blaze of light the Scouts followed the trail which in his flight the rascally butler had made no attempt to conceal. "'Hands up instantly or I'll fire!' ordered Mr. Buckley sternly."--_Page_ 237. The tracks led straight to the place where Atherton had previously found the burnt matches. But in place of the smooth sand there gaped a deep hole, from which the rays of a lantern were visible. "Come out, Tassh: the game's up," said Simpson. The only reply was a hollow mocking laugh, so eerie that the lads scarce believed it came from a human being. Then came the sound of metal being violently thrown about, to the accompaniment of disjointed and incoherent sentences that told their own tale. "The fellow's quite mad; he's amusing himself with smashing the silver," exclaimed Fraser. "We must stop him." Dropping lightly through the hole, the Scout found himself in a small cave, about twenty feet in length and half that distance in breadth. Two candle lanterns--one hanging from a hook driven into the roof and the other standing on the floor--gave sufficient light for Fraser to see clearly what was going on. Tassh, seated on the ground with his chin resting on his knee, was amusing himself by throwing the valuable silver cups against the farthermost wall, gibbering the while in maniacal delight. With a bound the Scout stood over the luckless rascal and laid a detaining hand on his shoulder. The man merely smiled and held up a chased goblet as if he wished his captor to join in the game. "He's as mad as a hatter," said Fraser to Simpson and Neale, who had promptly followed into the thief's lair. "We'll have a job to get him out of this." "Come on, Tassh," said Simpson, quietly and firmly. "We've something to show you. Come along." The ex-butler turned his head and looked at the Scout in a dazed manner; then, with a suddenness that almost took Simpson by surprise, the madman jumped to his feet and flung himself tooth and nail upon his captors. In the struggle the lantern on the floor was overset. The candle in the one hanging from the roof was almost burnt out. In semi-darkness, deep in the farthermost recesses of the cave, the three lads struggled with their prisoner, who seemed to possess the strength of a gorilla. Twice Simpson was hurled against the wall; Fraser, partly dazed by a tremendous blow on the forehead, was hardly of use to his companions; while Neale, his bare knees bleeding from the result of a series of vicious kicks, was banging grimly and desperately round the madman's waist. The situation was indeed serious. The Scouts had bitten off more than they could chew, yet not one of them raised a shout for help.