“We’re under the rocky floor of the sea!” said Andy, in a loud voice. “We’re in an underground tunnel, right under the sea itselfand I bet I know where it leads to! It goes to the Cliff of Birds.”
Tom gaped. He was so astonished that he couldn’t say a word. He stared at Andy, and listened to the dull, muffled boom above him. Yesit must be waves pounding away up there, far above their heads. Tom hoped the floor of the sea was good and strong! It wasn’t nice to think of all that water away up there.
“That’s why that tunnel sloped so steeply,” said Andy. “It goes right under the sea. We must be a good way under by nowbut I don’t know how far we are from the Cliff of Birds. I suppose we’ll get there sooner or later. Now we know how the smugglers take their goods thereand store them in that cave you saw there! They carry them here, under the sea itself!”
“Come on,” said Tom in excitement “Come onlet’s see where this leads toquick!”
CHAPTER 20.
An Unexpected Find.
THE two boys went eagerly forward along the strange tunnel. It was so wide that it could have taken two train-tracks. No wonder the smugglers could so easily carry goods from Smuggler’s Rock to the Cliff of Birds!
Boom, boom, boooooom! The restless sea went on pounding away overhead. “I hope,” said Tom, “that there isn’t a leak in any of the rocks in the roof of this queer under-sea tunnel! It would be awful to think of the sea pouring in.”
“Don’t be silly! This tunnel must have existed for years,” said Andy. “There’s no reason why it should suddenly spring a leak! We’re all right.”
“I suppose we are, really,” said Tom. “Blow! My torch is giving out!”
“Well, I’ve got twomine, which I’m using, and Jill’s,” said Andy. “I gave you Mary’s. We’ll make do with just mine now. because we may need Jill’s torch later on if mine gives out. Walk close to me. My word, don’t these walls and roof gleam! It’s a weird tunnel. It must have been used in the olden days quite a lot.”
“I wonder who first found it and went along it,” said Tom, stumbling over an uneven piece. “Here, shine your torch more downwards, Andy. I can’t see where I’m going.”
They went on for a long while. Andy tried to reckon out how long a tunnel would be that stretched between the Cliff of Birds and Smuggler’s Rock. Surely they must be nearing the end of it now.
“Listenthat booming noise isn’t nearly so loud,” said Tom, suddenly stopping. “Andy, listen.”
“You’re right,” said Andy. “Well, that can only mean one thingwe’re out from under the sea nowmaybe under the Cliff of Birds.”
“You know, AndyI think we shall probably come up into that cave where I saw all those boxes and crates stored,” said Tom, thinking hard. “When I was there, I saw Stumpy and the fisherman with glasses disappear down a hole in the floor of the caveand I bet that hole led down into this tunnel.”
“I should think you’re right,” said Andy. “Come on, we’ll soon see. It’s nice not to hear the sea booming overhead any more. It wasn’t a very pleasant sound. It made me feel a bit queer.”
“Me too,” said Tom. “I felt as if I was walking along some kind of unpleasant dream!”
On they went again. The passage was still very wide indeed, and grew even wider as they stumbled forward. Then Andy’s torch flashed on more stores!
The tunnel had now widened into what looked like a big underground hall. It was lined with hurriedly piled cases of all kinds. Andy went over to them curiously, and shone his torch on them.
“Maybe they’re brandy,” he said. “I know that’s smuggled in sometimes. Each case has got some sort of scribbled letters or numbers on. Look at all those green ones, too.”
“Here’s one half broken,” said Tom. “Bring the torch over. We might be able to see what’s inside.”
Soon the torch was flashing on to the half-broken case. The boys pulled out handfuls of straw, packing and padding material.
Then Andy gave a long low whistle, and stood staring in astonishment. Tom looked at him impatiently.
“What is it? Do you know what’s inside?”
“Yeslook heresee that shining barrel? There are guns hereand revolvers too, I expect. And ammunition in those green boxes over there! I bet I’m right My wordthis is more than smuggling.”
“What is it then?” said Tom in a whisper. “I don’t understand.”
“Nor do I yet,” said Andy. “I only know that those men are bringing in thousands of gunsand ammunitionand sending them from here somewhere elseeither to sell to countries who are not allowed to have these things, or to use against our own country in some way. It’s a plot of some sorta dangerous plot too, which might mean peril to our land and people in some way. My goodness meno wonder those men sank our boat, kept us prisoner, and did all they could to prevent my father from finding us!”
Tom felt scared. “They won’t hurt the two girls, will they?” he said, thinking of Jill and Mary left alone in the cave.
“I don’t think so,” said Andy. “What are we to do? What can we do? We ought somehow to get back and report this strange findand we ought to get back to Jill and Mary and look after them! But how are we to do either!”
Tom sat down on a box. Things were happening a bit too fast. He looked fearfully round the great underground store-house. Guns! Guns by the thousand! Gunpowder too, perhaps. Ammunition waiting to be used in wicked ways by wicked people. He shivered.
Andy sat down beside him to think. The fisherboy looked worried. He wished he was grown-up. Grown-ups always seemed to know the right thing to do and they could do it. But he didn’t know what was the right or best thing, and even if he did, how could he do it?
“The thing is,” he said out loud, “is it best to go back and try and get out on Smuggler’s Rock, and find the girlsor is it best to go on, and make our way into the Cliff of Birds? Perhaps that would be best, because we could go up the tunnel there that leads to the waterfall, Tom, and maybe climb out of the opening there, into the daylight, and wait to see if my father comes hunting for us again. Then we could signal.”
“Yesthat’s a jolly good idea,” said Tom. “The men couldn’t possibly guess we have found the under-sea tunnel and come to the Cliff of Birds. Why, they may not even know we are not with the girls, if they don’t go snooping round our cave. We could wait our chance and signal from the Cliff of Birds.”
“It sounds all right,” said Andy rather gloomily. “But I doubt if my father will come again to-dayhe’s been two days running and found nothing. Maybe they’ll all be off searching other places now.”
“Still, it really is the only thing we can do,” said Tom, getting up. “Come on, we’ll go right on now, shall we? We’d better be careful, though, because we might run up against one of the men in the Cliff of Birds.”
So they left the underground hall behind them and made their way cautiously onwards again. The tunnel narrowed after a little while and became more as it had been beforea wide rocky passage, with a high roof.
It ran upwards suddenly. “I bet it’s leading to that cave,” whispered Tom. “Don’t make a row, and shade your torch with your hand, Andy.”
Moving very quietly now, the two boys went on. The passage suddenly came to a very abrupt end. A rocky wall barred their way!
“A blind end!” said Andy, feeling up and down it with his hands. “Blow! What does this mean?”
It didn’t seem to mean anything except that the passage had ended. They could go no farther at all. Andy gave a huge sigh. He was exhausted now with his long stumbling walk, and it seemed the last straw that they should not be able to find a way out.
He sat down suddenly, and Tom fell beside him, his legs shaking with tiredness. “It’s no good,” said Andy. “I can’t go back. I’m tired out. We’re beaten!”
Tom felt the same. But after a short rest Andy felt more cheerful. He flashed his torch round again, and then suddenly turned it upwards, shining it above his head. He gave a cry and clutched Tom’s arm.
“Lookwhat idiots we are! There’s the way outabove our heads! A big hole in the roof, of course!”
Tom gazed up and saw a big round hole in the roof of the suddenly-ended tunnel. He gave a gasp!