And then Miss Camilla suddenly found words. "My dear children," she stuttered, "I--I really don't know what you're talking about. I haven't the faintest idea what this all means. _I never knew till this minute that there was anything like a cave or a tunnel connected with this house!_" And in the astounded silence that followed, the three stood gaping, open-mouthed, at each other. CHAPTER XI SOME BITS OF ROUNDTREE HISTORY "But come into the sitting-room," at length commanded Miss Camilla, "and let us talk this strange thing over. You must be tired and hungry, too, after this awful adventure of coming through that dreadful tunnel. You must have some of this hot gingerbread and a glass of lemonade." And while she bustled about, on hospitable thoughts intent, they heard her muttering to herself: "A cave--and a tunnel--and connected with _this_ house!--What _can_ it all mean?" They sat in restful silence for a time, munching the delicious hot gingerbread and sipping cool lemonade. Never did a repast taste more welcome, coming as it did after the adventures and uncertainties of that eventful day. And while they ate, Miss Camilla sat wiping her glasses and putting them on and taking them off again and shaking her head over the perplexing news that had been so unexpectedly thrust upon her. "I simply cannot understand it all," she began at last. "As I told you, I've never had the slightest idea of such a strange affair, nor can I imagine how it came there. When did you say that _Anne Arundel_ vessel was wrecked?" "Grandfather said in 1850," answered Sally. "Eighteen hundred and fifty," mused Miss Camilla. "Well, I couldn't have been more than four or five years old, so of course I would scarcely remember it. Besides, I was not at home here a great deal. I used to spend most of my time with my aunt who lived in New York. She used to take me there for long visits, months on a stretch. If this cave and tunnel were made at that time, it was probably done while I was away, or else I would have known of it. My father and brother and one or two colored servants were the only ones in the house, most of the time. I had a nurse, an old Southern colored 'mammy' who always went about with me. She died about the time the Civil War broke out." There was no light on the matter here. Miss Camilla relapsed again into puzzled silence, which the girls hesitated to intrude upon by so much as a single word, lest Miss Camilla should consider that they were prying into her past history.