‘Where are the maps?’ asked Bill at once, and Dinah nodded towards the locked drawers.
‘In there. But they keep them locked up. Bill, what are you going to do? Isn’t this a mystery?’
‘I’m beginning to see daylight,’ said Bill grimly. ‘Now look here, Dinah – you and Lucy-Ann are to go with Tassie straight away down the hill to Spring Cottage, and you are to stay there till we come. Do you understand? You can go out of that side door in the wall, which is now open. The man I have left upstairs will take you there safely and see you out. Then you must go at once.’
‘But – but . . .’ began Dinah, not liking to go without Philip.
‘No buts,’ said Bill. ‘I’m in command here, and you do exactly as you’re told! Now – off you go! We’ll be with you tomorrow!’
Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Tassie went obediently up the steps and out of the entrance hole. The man at the top went off to the door in the wall with them, and saw them safely out on the hillside. ‘Sure you know your way?’ he murmured, for he was quite sure he wouldn’t know his way down the dark hillside! But Tassie did. She could almost have found her way with her eyes shut, she knew it so well, and was so sure-footed.
The girls disappeared into the night. The man returned to his post. The entrance to the secret room was now closed. Below, Bill, Jack and the others were hurriedly getting into the suits of armour. Bill meant to attend the next meeting of Scar-Neck with his men! Jack was glad to see that they all had revolvers! The men said very little. They were the least talkative people the boy had ever known.
Jack was made to stand in the suit of armour right at the back of the hidden room. Bill didn’t want him too near, in case, as he said, there was a really rough house! The boy was shaking with excitement.
Kiki was not down in the room. Tassie had carried her firmly up the stone steps, screeching with annoyance at being parted from Jack so soon again. But it would not be possible to have a talkative parrot down there – she would certainly give the game away.
But Button the fox cub was there! Nobody knew it, of course. The fox cub had curled himself up under the bed, where Philip had hidden, glad to smell the familiar smell of the master he loved. Jack had forgotten all about him.
Soon all the suits of armour were standing once more on their pedestals round the curious museum-like room. Only three of them were empty. All the others were filled, though one of the men, a great big fellow, complained bitterly that his didn’t fit him at all.
‘Now – silence,’ said Bill. ‘Not a word from anyone. I think I heard something!’
27
The adventure boils up
But it was not anyone – it was a peal of thunder so loud that the noise had penetrated even down to the underground room.
‘I hope the girls won’t be frightened,’ said Bill, thinking of them scurrying down the hillside in the darkness. ‘I wonder if it’s raining.’
‘They’ll be all right with Tassie, I think,’ said Jack. ‘She will know places to shelter in. She won’t be silly enough to stand under trees or anything like that. There are a few little caves here and there in the hillside. Maybe they’ll use those till the storm is past.’
Silence again. It was astonishing how so many people, all standing rather uncomfortably in suits of armour, could manage to do so without a single creak or clank!
One man cleared his throat, and the sound was strange in the hidden room.
‘Don’t do that again, Jim,’ said Bill. There was dead silence once more. Jack sighed softly. It was unbearably exciting to stand hidden in armour, wet with perspiration, almost panting with heat, waiting for the other men to come.
Then suddenly, sounding quite loud, there came the noise of a door being unlocked. Then the tapestry on one wall shook – and someone lifted it up from behind!
Everyone stiffened inside the suits of armour. Eyes peered through the visors. Who was coming?
A man came out from behind the tapestry, and folded it back, hanging one end on a nail, so that others following could come into the room easily. Jack saw an opening behind, leading into the wall. From it came soft-footed men, one after the other – and with them they brought Philip!
The shaggy-browed man came first. Then came the bearded man, the one Bill called Scar-Neck, dragging Philip. Scar-Neck had the neck of his shirt closed, and Jack could see no sign of the tell-tale scar.
Philip was putting on a bold face, but Jack knew he was feeling scared. After him came three more men, all ugly fellows, with sharp eyes and stern mouths. They came into the room, talking. They left the secret way open, and Jack wondered where it led to.
Philip’s hands were bound behind his back, so tightly that the rope bit into his skin. Scar-Neck flung him into a chair.
It was soon clear that Philip had only just been captured. Scar-Neck rounded on him almost at once.
‘How long have you been in the castle? What do you know?’
‘I was here with the girls,’ said Philip. ‘I hid under the bed. You never looked there. I wasn’t doing any harm. We only came to play about in this old castle. We didn’t know it belonged to anyone.’
‘Get the girls,’ growled Scar-Neck to the shaggy man. ‘Bring them over here. We’ll cross-question the whole three of them. To think that a parcel of kids should waste our time like this!’
The shaggy-browed man went over to the bed, where, he imagined, the two girls would, as usual, be sleeping. But when he pulled back the curtain, they were not there! He stared, and then roughly pulled off the blankets and rugs.
‘They’re not here!’ he said, in an astonished voice. The bearded man turned at once.
‘Don’t be a fool! They must be here somewhere! We know they can’t get out of this room once it’s shut.’
‘The boy may have let them out from above,’ said the shaggy man. Scar-Neck swung round on Philip. The boy was amazed that the girls had gone, but he was not going to show it.
The shaggy man hunted under the bed – but it was plain to everyone that the girls had gone. Scar-Neck spoke roughly to Philip.
‘Did you let them out?’
‘No,’ said Philip. ‘I didn’t. I was hiding here, I tell you, under the bed. I wasn’t at the top.’
‘Well – who let them out, then?’ said the shaggy man, and his brows knitted together so that they almost hid his sharp eyes.
‘Now – you tell us everything!’ said Scar-Neck, and his voice was suddenly ugly and threatening.
Philip said nothing, but stared defiantly at the man. Scar-Neck lost his temper, raised his fist, and gave Philip such a blow on the side of the head that the boy fell off his chair. He picked himself up.
Jack, beside himself with anger, saw Philip’s left ear glow bright scarlet, and begin to swell.
‘Now will you talk?’ said Scar-Neck, his voice growing with rage. The others looked on, saying nothing.
Still Philip said nothing. Jack felt proud. How brave he was! Then, to his horror, the man took out a revolver and laid it on the table beside him.
‘We have ways of making sulky boys talk,’ he said, and his eyes gleamed with rage.
Philip didn’t like the look of the shining weapon. He blinked a little, and then stared at Scar-Neck again. But still he said nothing.
What would have happened next if there hadn’t been a sudden and surprising interruption, nobody knew! But all at once, like a stone from a catapult, Button, who had slunk under a chair on the far side of the room when the men arrived, shot out and threw himself on Philip.
Everyone leapt to his feet, and Scar-Neck caught up his revolver. When they saw that the newcomer was only a fox cub, they sat down again, feeling angry at their sudden fright.
Scar-Neck was furious. He lashed out at the cub, and sent him rolling to the ground. Button bared his small white teeth.
‘Don’t hurt him,’ said Philip, in alarm. ‘He’s only a cub. He’s mine.’
‘How did he get down here? When the girls got out, I suppose?’
growled the shaggy man.
‘I don’t know,’ said Philip, puzzled. ‘I tell you, I really don’t know how the girls got out, nor how the cub got in. It’s as much a mystery to me as to you.’
‘If this kid is telling the truth, we’d better finish up and get going,’ said the shaggy man, sounding rather anxious. ‘There must be others about, though goodness knows we’ve kept a good enough watch. Let’s settle up our business and go.’
A rumble of thunder came down into the secret room again. The men looked at one another uneasily.
‘What’s that?’ said the shaggy man.
‘Thunder, of course,’ growled Scar-Neck. ‘What’s the matter with you? Getting nervy just because a bunch of silly kids are playing around? What they want is a good beating, and I’ll see this boy gets it before we go, anyway, even if those girls have gone!’
Button curled up quietly at Philip’s feet. He was afraid of these men. Scar-Neck nodded to one of the others, and he got up. He went to the drawer where the documents were kept, unlocked it, and drew out the sheaf of papers there. He put them in front of Scar-Neck.
Then began a long discussion in a language that Philip did not understand. But Bill understood it! Bill could speak eight or more different languages, and he listened eagerly to all that was said.
Philip sat listlessly on his chair, his wrists hurting him, and his left ear now twice its size. He could not even rub it because his hands were so tightly tied behind his back.
Button licked his bare leg. It was comforting. Philip wondered where the girls had gone. How had they got out? He was glad to know they had probably escaped. Had help come? Had Jack managed to find someone? Would they rescue him too?
He wished he was standing safely inside the suit of armour he had hidden in before. He glanced round at it, and then stared in the utmost amazement.
Surely eyes were gleaming behind that visor? Philip had extremely good eyesight, and it so happened that the rays of the lamp shone directly into the visor of the armour he was looking at. It seemed to Philip as if there were real eyes behind it, not the usual hollow space.
He glanced at the next suit of armour, and saw what he imagined were eyes there too – and the next one! He felt terribly scared. Had all these suits of armour come alive all of a sudden? Who was inside? He could see that most of them were filled. He began to tremble.
Scar-Neck noticed him and laughed. ‘Ah, so you are beginning to be afraid of what may happen to boys who interfere in somebody else’s business! Maybe you will talk soon!’
Philip said nothing. He began to think clearly, and it was soon plain to him that it must be friends inside the armour, and not enemies. How silly of him to be scared! But it really had been an eerie feeling to see gleaming eyes looking at him from behind those visors.
‘So that’s how it is the girls have gone,’ he thought. ‘Now I understand. Jack did get help – and they’ve had the idea of doing what I did – hiding in the armour to see what is happening! Well, I mustn’t give them away, whatever happens! I wonder if one of them is old Freckles.’
Feeling very much better now, the boy gave another look round at the armour. He did not dare to stare too hard, in case one of the men followed the direction of his look and saw what he saw.
Another rumble of thunder came down into the room, louder this time. The air was almost unbearably hot down there, and the men in the armour had hard work not to gasp. Perspiration ran down their bodies, and they longed to shift their positions a little. But they dared not move.
Bill was listening intently to all that was being said, though Philip could not make out a single word. Papers were spread out on the table, but Bill could not see what they were. They looked like blueprints of some sort, details of machinery perhaps. It was impossible for him to see.
Scar-Neck rolled them up at last. Then he turned to Philip.
‘Well, our job is done. We shall not have the pleasure of seeing you or your friends any more. But before we go we shall teach you what it means to spy on us! Where’s that rope?’
‘Don’t you dare touch me!’ cried Philip, jumping to his feet. Scar-Neck took the rope.
Then, to his unutterable horror, one of the suits of armour walked off its pedestal, held up a stiff and clanking arm, at the end of which shone a wicked-looking revolver, and said:
‘The game’s up, Scar-Neck. We’ve got you all!’
The voice sounded hollow. Scar-Neck and the others stared in the utmost dismay, and then looked round at the other suits of armour, which were also coming alive! It seemed like a bad dream – but a dream that had too many revolvers in it!
‘Hands up!’ said Bill’s sharp voice.
Scar-Neck began to put his hands up – but suddenly he turned, took hold of the oil lamp, and smashed it on the ground. In a moment the room was pitch dark!
28
A terrible storm
Bill gave a cry of rage. Then Jack heard his voice. ‘Get under the bed, Jack and Philip, quick! There may be shooting!’
The boys did exactly as they were told. They dived for the bed, Jack clanking in his armour. Philip lay there panting, wishing his hands were not tied. Jack got stuck halfway under the bed.
What was happening in the room they didn’t know. There were shouts and panting and groans – but nobody did any shooting. It was too dark to risk that in case friend shot friend. It sounded to the boys as if men in armour and men without were rolling on the ground together, for there was a tremendous thudding and clashing.
Suddenly there was a grating noise, and the boys knew the entrance above was being opened. But who was opening it, their side or the other? Philip had no idea how it was opened from below, though he had often tried to find out, for obviously there must be a way.
Then he knew that Scar-Neck or one of his friends must have opened it, as a way of escape, for he heard Bill’s voice shouting up to the man he had left above.
‘Tom! Look out! Shoot anyone coming up!’
Tom sprang to the top of the steps, but he could see nothing down below. He could only hear the groans and clanks the boys could hear. Then up the steps crept one of the men. Tom did not hear him, and suddenly he felt a blow that sent him sprawling. It was Scar-Neck trying to escape. In the fight he had lost his revolver or he would certainly have shot Tom.
Before Tom could get up and catch him, he was gone – and yet another man was on top of the surprised Tom, falling over him. Poor Tom got another blow, and his head sang. Then the shaggy-browed man kicked him savagely and disappeared too.
After that Tom didn’t know what to do – whether to stand at the top of the steps to prevent anyone else coming up, or to go after the escaping men. But as he hadn’t the remotest idea where they had gone, he chose the first course.
Down below things were going badly for the three men left. One of them was completely knocked out. Another had given in because Bill had sat on top of him so firmly that there wasn’t anything else to do. And the third man had tried to escape down the secret way behind the tapestry, but was now being forcibly brought back by Jim, who was yanking him along with many muttered threats.
Bill at last found a torch and switched it on. The oil lamp was smashed beyond repair. It was fortunate that it had not set the place on fire. By the light of the powerful torch Bill had a look round.
The man he had been sitting on was now in the charge of someone else, and was looking extremely sorry for himself. He had a black eye and a very large lump on his head. Bill looked odd. He was still wearing his armour, but he had taken off the helmet so that his bald head, with the thick hair at each side, rose up startlingly.
The two boys came out from under the bed. Bill had to tug at Jack to set him free. Jack got out of the hot armour as quickly as he could, and freed Philip’s hands.
Bill’s face wore a look of utter disgust. He could see that the two men he most wanted to catch – Scar-Neck and the shaggy-browed man – were gone. He called up to Tom.
‘Are y
ou there, Tom?’
‘Yes, sir,’ came back Tom’s voice, rather subdued.
‘Have you got the two who came up the steps?’ shouted Bill.
‘No, sir. Sorry to say they bowled me over and got away, sir,’ replied Tom, even more subdued.
Bill muttered a few rude names for the unlucky Tom. ‘Come on down here,’ he said. ‘What a fool you are, Tom! You had a wonderful position up there – you could have stopped a whole army getting out!’
‘Well, it was so dark, sir,’ said Tom. ‘I couldn’t see a thing.’
‘Well, you’ve let two of our most important men go,’ said Bill grimly. ‘That’s not the way to get promotion, you know. I wish I’d put someone else up there now. I suppose those fellows are well away down the hill now. I’ve no doubt they’ve got their own powerful car well hidden away somewhere, ready for an emergency, and will be the other side of the country by tomorrow night.’
Poor Tom looked very sheepish. He was an enormous fellow, and the boys thought he ought to have been able to capture two enemies single-handed! They were in a terrible state of excitement and wished that they had been able to capture Scar-Neck themselves.
‘Tie up these fellows,’ said Bill, curtly nodding to their captives. Jim began to do it very efficiently and soon the men sat like trussed fowls, sullen and tousled, frowning into space.
‘Now we’ll have a look at those papers,’ said Bill, and one of his men went to spread them out before him. Bill bent over them.
‘Yes – they’ve got everything here they wanted to know,’ he said. ‘That fellow Scar-Neck is about the cleverest spy in any country. I bet he felt mad to leave these behind. They are worth a fortune to him, and are of untold value to the country he was spying for.’
One of the men rolled them up. As he did so a terrific roll of thunder echoed all round. Everyone looked startled.
‘What a storm!’ said the man called Jim. ‘Was that lightning then?’