of theirs. So theyhad no difficulty in getting her consent to their picnic plan forto-morrow. And the weather was wonderfully settled, as it sometimes iseven in England, though early in the year.
So the next morning saw them set off, carrying a little basket ofprovisions and a large parasol, full of eagerness and excitement as towhat might be before them.
They did not cross the lawn as they had done the day before, for theyhad a sort of feeling that they did not wish anyone to see them start,or to know exactly which way they went. It added to the pleasantmystery of the expedition. So they went straight out by the frontgates, and after following the high road for a quarter of a mile or so,entered a little wood which skirted the grass-grown lane along one side,and from which they made their way out with some scrambling andclambering at only a few yards' distance from the entrance to thedeserted garden where they had last seen the wren.
The sight of the gate-posts reminded Alix of the bird, and she stoppedshort with some misgiving.
"Rafe," she said, "do you think perhaps we should have waited for her atthe ilex tree? I never thought of it before."
"Oh no," said Rafe; "I'm sure it's all right. We've come to the placeshe led us to. She didn't need to show us the way twice! Fairies don'tlike stupid people."
"You seem to know a great lot about fairies," said Alix, who had no ideaof being snubbed herself, though she was fond of snubbing other people;"so I think you'd better settle what we're to do."
"I expect we'll find the wren inside the gate," said Rafe; and they madetheir way on in silence.
There was no difficulty in getting into the grounds, for though the gateon its rusty hinges would have been far too heavy for the children tomove, there was a space between it and the posts where the wood hadrotted away, through which it was easy for them to creep. First cameRafe, then the basket, next Alix, and finally the big parasol.
It was a good while since they had been in the Ladywood garden, and whenthey had got on to their feet again, they stood still for a minute ortwo looking round them. It was a curious-looking place certainly; thevery beauty of it had something strange and dream-like about it.
Here and there the old paths were clearly to be traced. The mainapproach, or drive, as we should now call it, leading to where the househad been, was still quite distinct, though the house itself was entirelygone--not even any remains of ruins were to be seen, for all the stoneand wood of which it had been built had long since been carted away tobe used elsewhere.
But the children knew where the old hall had actually stood--a large,square, level plateau, bordered on three sides by a broad terrace, allgrass-grown, showing in two or three places where stone steps had onceled down to the lower grounds, told its own tale. Along the front ofthis plateau, supporting it, as it were, there was still a verystrongly-built stone wall banked up into the soil. The children walkedon slowly till they were near the foot of this wall, and then stoodstill again. It was about five feet high; they seemed attracted to it,they scarcely knew why--perhaps because it was the only remaining thingactually to show that here had been once a home where people had lived.
"I daresay," said Alix, looking up, "that the children used to run alongthe terrace at the top of that wall, and their mammas and nurses wouldcall after them to take care they didn't fall over. Doesn't it seemfunny, Rafe, to think there have _always_ been children in the world?"
"I daresay the boys jumped down sometimes," said Rafe. "I'd like totry, but I won't to-day, for I promised mamma to take care of you, andif I sprained my ankle it would be rather awkward."
They had forgotten their little quarrel, and for the moment they hadforgotten about the wren.
She was nowhere to be seen.
What was to be done?
"If we were only looking for a nice place for our picnic," said Rafe,"nothing could be better than the shelter of this wall. With it on oneside, and the parasol tilted up on the other, it would be as good as atent."
"But we're not only looking for a picnic place," said Alix impatiently."The only thing to do is to poke about till we find _something_, for I'mperfectly certain the wren didn't bring us here for nothing; and then,you know, there's even what nurse told us about this garden."
Alix's words roused Rafe's energy again; for he was a trifle lazy, andwouldn't have been altogether disinclined to sit down comfortably andthink about dinner. But once he got a thing in his head, he was notwithout ideas.
"Let's follow right along the wall," he said, "and examine it closely."
"I don't know what you expect to find," said Alix. "It's just a wall,as straight and plain as can be."
And so indeed it seemed from where they stood.
"I'll look all along the ground, in case there might be a ring fixed ina stone somewhere, like in the _Arabian Nights_. That's a regular fairysort of plan," said Alix.
"Very well," agreed Rafe; "you can do that, and I'll keep tapping thewall to see if it sounds hollow anywhere."
And so they proceeded, Alix carrying the basket now, and Rafe theparasol, as it came in handy for his tapping.
For some moments neither of them spoke. Alix's eyes were fixed on theground. Once or twice, where it looked rough and uneven, she stooped toexamine it more closely, but nothing came of it, except a littlegrumbling from Rafe at her stopping the way. To avoid this she ran on afew paces in front of him, so that when, within a few yards of the endof the wall, her brother suddenly stopped short, she wasn't aware thathe had done so till she heard him calling her in a low but eager voice.
"What is it?" she said breathlessly, hurrying back again.
"Alix," he said, "there's some one tapping back at us from the otherside. Listen."
"A woodpecker," said Alix hastily; "or the echo of your tappings."
She was in such a hurry that she didn't stop to reflect what sillythings she was saying. To tell the truth, she didn't quite like theidea of Rafe having the honour and glory of the discovery, if such itwas.
"A woodpecker," repeated Rafe. "What nonsense! Do woodpeckers tapinside a wall? And an echo wouldn't wait till I had finished tapping tobegin. It's just like answering me. Listen again."
He tapped three times, slowly and distinctly, then stopped. Yes, sureenough there came what seemed indeed like an answer. Three clear, sharplittle raps--clearer and sharper, indeed, than those he made with theparasol handle. Alix was now quite convinced.
"It sounds like a little silver hammer," she said. "Oh, Rafe, _suppose_we've really found something magic!" and her bright eyes danced witheagerness.
Rafe did not reply. He seemed intent on listening.
"Alix," he said, "the tapping is going on--a little farther off now, andthen it comes back again, as if it was to lead us on. It must be onpurpose."
CHAPTER THREE.
THE CARETAKER.
"Let's follow it along," said Alix, after another moment or two'shesitation.
They were standing, as I said, not many yards from the end of the wall,and thither the sound seemed to lead them. When they got quite to thecorner the tapping had stopped. But the children were not discouraged.
"That's what fairies do," said Alix, as if all her life she had lived onintimate terms with the beings she spoke of. "They show you a bit, andthen they leave you to find out a bit for yourself. We must poke aboutnow and see what we can find."
Rafe had already set to work in this way: he was feeling and proddingthe big, solid-looking stones which finished off the corner.
"Alix," he exclaimed, "one of these stones shakes a little; let's pushat it together."
Yes, there was no doubt that it yielded a little, especially at oneside. The children pushed with all their might and main, but for sometime an uncertain sort of wobbling was the only result. Rafe stood backa little to recover his breath, and to look at the stone morecritically.
"There may be some sort of spring or hinge about it," he said at last."Give me the parasol again, Alix."
He then pressed the poin
t of it firmly along the side of the stone, downthe seam of mortar which appeared to join it to its neighbour in thewall. He need not have pressed so hard, for when he got to the middleof the line the stone suddenly yielded, turning inwards so quickly andsharply that Rafe almost fell forward on the parasol, and a square darkhole was open before them.
Alix darted forward and peeped in.
"Rafe," she cried, "there's a sort of handle inside; shall I try to turnit?"
She did so without waiting for his answer. It moved quite easily, andthen they found that the two or three stones completing the row to theground,