The noise would not be unnoticed--he knew that. With a bound, he had reached the bottom of the steps. There was no time to seek escape by the door, for already he could hear some one running across the floor of the workroom above. They must hide, and hide quickly. Joe was close behind him. Frank turned and sped through an open doorway close at hand. The boys found themselves in a gloomy stone room in which several large pieces of machinery could be dimly distinguished in the faint light. From the floor above they could hear voices. A door opened. Frank glanced back and he could see a beam of light against the wall by the stairs. "I'm certain I heard a noise!" they heard Markel saying. "I'm going to find out what caused it." CHAPTER XXIV TRAPPED The Hardy boys could see little chance of escape. Markel was coming down the stairs. They could hear his heavy boots as they clattered on the steps. Frank glanced around the room. There was one window, but it was boarded up. There was but one door, the one through which they had come. Markel had reached the foot of the stairs by now. They heard him give a grunt of surprise as he picked up the pail. "This was what did it," he called back to some one on the landing. "It fell down the stairs." "Well, what of it?" Uncle Dock called down to him. "Some one must have knocked it over." "Couldn't have been any one," sniffed Uncle Dock. "There's nobody around. It's just your nerves." "Pails don't fall downstairs unless somebody knocks them over," said Markel stubbornly. "Ask Lester. Perhaps it was him." They heard Markel go into another room. For a few moments there was silence. Then Markel came out again. "He's asleep--or shamming. I didn't waken him. But I'm going to take a look around, just the same." His footsteps drew nearer the room in which the brothers were hiding. Frank sprang lightly in behind the open door, pressing himself close against the wall. Joe wedged in beside him. Markel came into the room. He was carrying a flashlight and its beam illuminated the corners of the musty chamber. The Hardy boys waited in suspense. Would he think of looking behind the door? Suddenly there was a mutter of disgust from Markel and a rustle as something flitted out of a corner. "Me-e-ow!" "Only the cat!" grunted Markel. The animal purred ingratiatingly, but Markel aimed a vicious kick at the cat. It missed its mark, however, and Markel turned and trudged out of the room. "Find anything?" called Uncle Dock from the top of the stairs. "It was only the cat," answered Markel sullenly. "The brute must have been prowling around on the stairs and knocked the pail over." "Well, come back and get to work. I hope you're satisfied now. I knew it must have been something like that."