“Right, Bill,” said Jack, fresh from his sound sleep. “I say — they’ve been a long time underground, haven’t they? They must be lost!”
“I sincerely hope so,” said Bill. “I don’t imagine they will be lost forever, however, desirable as that might be — that labyrinth isn’t a frightfully big one. Well, I’m going to sleep, Jack. Keep your wits about you!”
Jack was still sleepy. He was afraid he might find it difficult to keep awake, so he lighted the lantern, and walked about round the courtyard. He shone the light on to Lucian. He was so fast asleep that he didn’t even stir. Philip was soundly off too, and as for the girls not an inch of their faces was to be seen, they were cuddled up so closely to one another.
Kiki accompanied Jack on his rambles round the courtyard. She knew she had to be quiet, so she whispered all the time. She wasn’t very good at whispering, and tickled Jack’s ear till he couldn’t bear it any longer. He took her off his shoulder, and made her perch on one of his arms.
His two hours went by without anything happening at all. He awoke Philip. It took a long time because the boy was so very sound asleep. As fast as Jack rolled him over to wake him, he rolled back again, his eyes still shut.
Jack took off one of Philip’s shoes and tickled the soles of his feet. That woke him up all right! Philip sat straight up and glared round at the lantern Jack held.
“What are you . . .” he began, in a loud voice, and Jack shushed him at once.
“Sh, idiot! You’ll wake the rest! Sorry about tickling your feet, but I simply couldn’t wake you! It’s your turn to watch now.”
Philip put on his shoe, saying something uncomplimentary to Jack under his breath. Micky woke up too, and looked in astonishment round the yard. He had forgotten where he was.
Jack told Philip in whispers about Lucian’s arrival. Philip was amused. “So old Rabbit-Mouth is on our side now!” he said. “Well — he’s not a bad sort really — only he’s such a nit-wit! Poor Lucian — I guess he was scared out of his life! Right, I’ll keep my eye on him — though honestly he wouldn’t have the nerve to do anything he shouldn’t. And if our dear Mr. Eppy pops his head up out of the column, I shall have the greatest pleasure in conking him good and hard.”
Jack grinned. “Well, I’m off to sleep again,” he said. “Good hunting, Philip!”
Philip’s eyes persisted in closing, as he sat there keeping watch. He got up and walked about, as Jack had done. It would be an unforgivable thing to sleep whilst he was on guard. Quite unthinkable. He wondered what the time was, and glanced at his watch. The hands were phosphorescent, and showed him the time. Five o’clock — or getting on that way. He looked at the eastern sky. It was already silvering with the dawn.
It was almost at the end of Philip’s two hours that the noise came. By this time the sun was up and the sunlight was on everything, clean and new and beautiful. Philip was enjoying the warmth of the first slanting beams, when he heard the noise.
He pricked his ears, and Micky began to chatter softly. “Sh!” said Philip. “I want to listen.” Micky was silent at once.
The noise came again — the scraping of boots on stone. “They’re coming!” thought Philip, and he ran to where Bill was sleeping, face down in the grass that grew over the yard. “Bill! Wake up! They’re coming!”
Bill woke up at once. He sprang to his feet, all sleep gone in an instant. Jack awoke too, and so did the girls. Only Lucian slept on, but nobody took any notice of him.
Bill ran to the column. He took the big wedge of wood from Philip. “Stand back,” he said to the girls. “I don’t expect for a moment I’ll have much trouble, but you never know. I’m not standing any nonsense from Eppy and Co.”
He stationed himself just under the broken edge of the hole in the column. He listened. Voices came up to him. Someone was evidently now standing inside the column, having come up to the top of the spiral stairway. Bill heard what he said, but couldn’t understand it.
However, he recognized Mr. Eppy’s voice, and took a firm hold of his piece of wood! Mr. Eppy stood still for a moment and listened to someone shouting up to him from the stairway below. Then he called up in a low voice.
“Lucian? Are you there, Lucian?”
Lucian was there — but he was fast asleep, so of course he didn’t answer. Mr. Eppy called again softly. “Lucian!”
Bill answered, in a grim voice. “I’m here — Bill Cunningham — and I’m waiting for you, Mr. Eppy! The moment you try to get out of there I shall force you back — with this weapon!” Bill banged his wedge of wood down on the column with such a noise that everyone jumped violently, and Lucian woke up.
There was a dead silence inside the column. Then there was a scraping noise, as if someone else was coming up the stairway. Voices spoke together, very low.
“How did you get free?” came Mr. Eppy’s voice again. “Did Lucian free you? He’s not here.”
“No, he didn’t,” said Bill.
The voices spoke together again. Then Mr. Eppy called up urgently.
“Mr. Cunningham! My men tell me that they have just found poor Lucian down here — badly hurt. He needs help. Let us come at once.”
This was a most astonishing piece of news, especially to Lucian, whose mouth fell open in amazement. He was about to speak when Jack nudged him to be quiet. Bill was handling this!
“Sorry to hear that, Mr. Eppy,” said Bill. “Hand him up and we’ll look after him. But you remain below. That’s definite.”
Another conference took place in low voices. Then Mr. Eppy spoke again.
“I must ask you to allow us to come up with the boy. He is seriously hurt. I am very distressed about him.”
Lucian’s face was a study. Dinah almost giggled as she watched him. Bill answered at once.
“Nothing doing. Nobody comes up except — er — Lucian. Hand him over.”
As Lucian was even then sitting on the grass in the courtyard it was quite impossible for Mr. Eppy to hand him over. Lucy-Ann whispered to Dinah, “Isn’t he a terrible story-teller!”
Bill began banging idly on the column with his wedge. “Well, you don’t seem to want to part with Lucian,” he called. “Now I warn you — if anyone appears at the hole in this column they’re for it!”
Bang, bang! That was Bill’s piece of wood on the column again. It couldn’t please Mr. Eppy very much. He was not a brave man, and it was easy to imagine his feelings down in the column!
“Can we have some food?” he called, at last.
“No,” shouted back Bill hard-heartedly. “There is barely enough for our breakfast.”
Judging by the scraping noises that could then be heard, Mr. Eppy and the others had decided to go back down the stairs and have a conference. Bill jerked his head at Jack.
“Give out the food that’s left to everyone. I’m staying here in case any of these fellows try something funny. I have a feeling there’s a revolver or two among them, so whatever happens I can’t let them appear at the top.”
Jack and Philip shared out the remaining food. Bill gulped down his share, keeping eyes and ears open for any movement or sound from the broken column. But there was none.
He beckoned the others over to him at the end of the rather unsatisfactory meal. “Now listen,” he said, in a low voice. “I must stay here, you can see that. What you have to do is to go with Lucian and find the creek where the boat or boats are, belonging to Mr. Eppy. Be careful there are no men left in them.”
“There are two men with two boats,” said Lucian. This was disappointing news. Bill considered again.
“Well — the thing to do first of all is to find the creek with the boats,” said Bill. “Don’t show yourselves. Just find the creek so that we shall know the way. Then come back here. We’ll hope that farm-boy arrives with more food at twelve o’clock, as he usually docs.”
“We could do with it,” said Jack.
“So could our dear Mr. Eppy and his friends,” grinned Philip. “Bill, what do we do after we’ve found the creek and the boats, and come back to report?”
“We send Lucian down with a message supposed to come from his uncle, to tell the men to come along up here,” said Bill, “and we pop down and go off in the boats!”