"Look here!" she demanded, facing her companion. "Are you game to come
with me? We can bring Genevieve along. It's perfectly safe. If you're
not, you can stay here with her and I'll go by myself. I'm determined to
see the end of this." Her resolution fired Doris. After all, it could
not be so very dangerous, since the tunnel seemed in such good repair.
Forgetting all else in her enthusiasm, she hastily consented.
"We must take plenty of candles and matches," declared Sally. "We
wouldn't want to be left in the dark in there. It's lucky I brought a
lot today. Now, Genevieve, you behave yourself and come along like a
good girl, and we'll buy you some lolly-pops when we get back home!"
Genevieve was plainly reluctant to add her presence to the undertaking,
but, neither, on the other hand, did she wish to be left behind, so she
followed disapprovingly.
Each with a candle lit, they stepped down from the floor of the cave and
gingerly progressed along the narrow way. Doris determinedly turned her
eyes from the slugs and snails and strange insects that could be seen on
the ancient planking, and kept them fastened on Sally's back as she led
the way. On and on they went, silent, awe-stricken, and wondering.
Genevieve whimpered and clung to Doris's skirts, but no one paid any
attention to her, so she was forced to follow on, willy-nilly.
So far did this strange, underground passage proceed that Doris
half-whispered: "Is it never going to end, Sally? Ought we to venture
any further?"
"I'm going to the end!" announced Sally stubbornly. "You can go back if
you like." And they all went on again in silence.
At length it was evident that the end was in sight, for the way was
suddenly blocked by a stone wall, apparently, directly across the
passage. They all drew a long breath and approached to examine it more
closely. It was unmistakably a wall of stones, cemented like the
foundation of a house, and beyond it they could not proceed.
"What are we going to do now?" demanded Doris.
"The treasure must be here," said Sally, "and I've found one thing that
opened when you pushed against it. Maybe this is another. Let's try.
Perhaps it's behind one of these stones. Look! The plaster seems to be
loose around these in the middle." She thrust the weight of her strong
young arm against it, directing it at the middle stone of three large
ones, but without avail. They never moved the fraction of an inch. Then
she began to push all along the sides where the plaster seemed loose. At
last she threw her whole weight against it--and was rewarded!
The three stones swung round, as on a pivot, revealing a space only
large enough to crawl through with considerable squeezing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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