They went down the overgrown, stone-strewn street, and came to the rocky creek. The motor-boat was there, rocking gently. Andros was fast asleep on the shady side of the boat.
The little party walked down the rocky ledge to the boat. Then they looked up the creek. Bill gave an exclamation. “Of course! That’s it!”
“What, Bill?” said the children at once.
“Well, ‘Two-Fingers’ is marked on the map, apparently for no reason at all. The expert swore that’s what the old Greek word meant. I just thought it might be an old name for someone — but now I see what it meant. Look up there.”
The children looked where Bill pointed — and above their heads some way away to the left they saw a queer rock. It was like a clenched hand — with two fingers raised! Yes — two fingers. There they were. And “Two-Fingers” was marked on the map!
“Come on. That’s a guide of some sort,” said Bill, and they climbed along till they came to the queer two-fingered rock. They found a hole behind it, a hole that would quite easily allow a person to step into it. Bill fumbled for a torch. He switched it on.
“There may be a passage of some kind,” he said. “Yes — there is! This is really extraordinary! I think, Jack, you’d better go back to the boat and get a lantern or two, if you can find them. My torch isn’t too good.”
Jack sped down to the boat. Andros was still asleep. Jack spotted two lanterns and brought them carefully up to the two-fingered rock, handing them at awkward places to Philip, who had come to meet him.
“Good,” said Bill. “We’ll light these. I’ll take one, and you can take the other, Jack. I’ll save my torch.”
They lighted the oil lanterns inside the hole. It wasn’t big enough for a cave. It really was just a large hole behind the queer rock — but at the back was what looked like an entry into the hill. Could it possibly be the entrance shown in the map?
“Do you think it is, Bill?” asked Lucy-Ann eagerly, when the lanterns were lighted and Bill held one up to peer into the narrow rocky passage behind the hole.
“No. I can’t believe it is,” said Bill. “It must have been known for years by everyone in the city, when it was alive with people. It’s just a coincidence, I expect.”
The children, of course, didn’t think it was. They felt very thrilled indeed as they made their way along the dark little passage. It went for a few hundred yards and then came out into a wide space. Bill held up his lantern. It shone on to rocky walls — but what was that at the back? The wall looked different there.
He took his lantern over to it. The beam shone on to large blocks of stone built like a great irregular door. “I wonder why that was built here,” said Bill, surprised. He swung the lantern round to light up the rest of the cave. The walls were of smooth, shiny rock. There was not the smallest opening there at all. The only opening was the one they had come in by, from the narrow passage.
Bill swung the light on to the built-in stones again. Then he put the lantern down.
“This was built to block up some other opening,” he said at last. The children’s hearts sank. “It is immensely strong, as you can see for yourselves — a door of great blocks of stone, a door that can’t possibly be opened, or got through in any way.”
“Bill — do you think it’s blocking up the entrance shown on the map?” asked Jack, dismayed.
“Well, yes — I do,” said Bill. “It’s been built many many years — it’s old, as you can see. Why it was built goodness knows! Anyway, there it is — and we’re stopped right at the very outset! If this is the way shown on the map, the way that one must follow to get to wherever the treasure was hidden, it’s impossible to follow it. Quite impossible!”
“Oh, Bill!” said Lucy-Ann, almost in tears. “It’s too bad. Isn’t there any way through?”
“Well — send Micky to see,” said Bill. “If there’s even a small hole Micky will find it. You know what monkeys are. Send him, Philip.”
“Go, Micky — go and hunt about,” said Philip. Micky looked at him enquiringly. He didn’t like this business of exploring dark passages. He leapt off Philip’s shoulder and obediently went off on an exploration of his own. Kiki watched him and then flew to a ledge at the top of the immense stone doorway.
“Send for the doctor,” she said in a hollow voice. “Polly’s got a cold. Send for the doctor.”
Micky bounded up to join her. He scurried about, putting his little paw here and there, into crannies and crevices. But obviously there was nothing to find, for he soon came back and leapt on to Philip’s shoulder, nestling closely to his neck.
“No go,” said Bill. He set the lantern down on the floor, meaning to put the map away. Just as he was folding it up Lucy-Ann gave an astonished cry.
“What’s the matter?” said Jack, startled.
“Look — what’s that over there — on the floor? Surely, it’s — it’s — a torch battery!”
Philip saw the thing she meant and went to pick it up. He brought it to the light of the lamp. “Yes — that’s just what it is — an old worn-out battery from a torch rather like Bill’s. Bill — you haven’t dropped a battery, have you?”
“Of course not,” said Bill. “Yes, this is certainly on old battery — somebody must have thrown it down and put a new battery into his torch — whoever he may be! We are obviously not the only ones to know this place!”
Lucy-Ann shivered. She was sorry she had spotted that battery now. It made her feel queer. Who had been in this walled-up cave, and why?
“Let’s go, Bill,” she said. “We can’t do any good here — it’s all walled up. Let’s go back to Andros. I don’t like this.”
“Right. We’ll go back,” said Bill. “In any case, we ought to go now. We’ve been here ages, and we’ve got to get back to the ship tonight. Come along.”
They made their way out of the cave, down the narrow passage in the rocky hill and came to the hole. They climbed round the two-fingered rock and made their way to the creek.
And then they got a terrible shock. The motor-boat was gone! They stared as if they couldn’t believe their eyes.
“Where’s the boat?” said Dinah feebly.
They looked up the creek and down. No sign of the boat at all. How very extraordinary! And then Jack gave a cry, and pointed out to sea.
“Isn’t that it? Look — right out there?”
They all strained their eyes, and Bill nodded his head grimly. “Yes — that looks like it. What on earth made Andros go off without us? What an astounding thing to do!”
“He was fast asleep in the boat when I got the lantern,” said Jack. “Never stirred. Everything seemed all right then.”
“Blessed if I understand it,” said Bill, looking bewildered. “He seemed a good trustworthy chap — and I haven’t even paid him. What in the world has possessed him to act like that?”
“The boat’s going pretty fast,” said Philip. “Almost out of sight now. Well, well, well — here we are marooned on our treasure island, sure as eggs are eggs!”
Lucy-Ann was very much alarmed. She took Bill’s arm. “What are we going to do?” she said. “Are we to stay here, Bill?”
“Lucy-Ann, don’t be an idiot,” said Jack, before Bill could answer. “Where are we to go if we don’t stay here? Have you got an aeroplane stowed away somewhere, ready for this emergency?”
“Shut up, Jack,” said Bill, putting his arm round Lucy-Ann. “We shall be all right, don’t fret, Lucy-Ann. It’s only one of our adventures!”
Chapter 19
ALL KINDS OF SHOCKS
THEY stood there for a little while, not certain what to do. It was all so very unexpected. Then Bill shook himself and grinned round at the others.
“Well — it looks as if we’ve got to spend the night here, doesn’t it — and get our supper ourselves. Thank goodness we’ve got the food that extraordinary boy brought on his donkey! And Jack’s got the rest of our picnic lunch as well.”
“Oh yes — I’d forgotten that!” said Dinah, pleased. She had been thinking they would have nothing to eat.
“We can go and tuck in straight away,” said Bill. “We’ll find somewhere to sleep all right — it’s very warm, and we shan’t take any harm. I don’t particularly want to go and find one of those farms we saw, in case Andros takes it into his head to call back for us. He must have gone crazy.”