Etelka's eyes sparkled. A bold plan had occurred to her.
"Let's explore the secret passages," she exclaimed.
"Let's!" echoed her companions delightedly yet fearfully.
"We won't go far," continued Etelka, knowing that such explorations were considered dangerous and forbidden. "Just a little ways."
"Just a little ways!" Ruzena and Marouska again echoed breathlessly.
These so-called secret passages were very old and no one seemed to know for certain why they had been built. The story generally accepted was that they belonged to the time immediately following the Hussite Wars, when many Czechs were forced to emigrate to Slovakia. While they were allowed to come, meetings to study the Bible had to be held in secret. These passages, connected with several of the cellars, made such meetings possible. Although the Slovaks in the village were now Catholics, they had not forgotten stories of martyrdom and courage handed down from those times. They told how a pastor had traveled from village to village hidden in a load of hay; of how a Bible was once saved by being thrown down into a well, and many other tales.
Taking the lantern, Etelka led the way into a little opening. It did not go far, for the earth had fallen down from the side walls, partially blocking it.
The girls looked at one another.
"I know what we can do," suggested Ruzena. "I saw an old board in the cellar. We can dig some of the earth away with that," and she ran to get it. She also brought back a big wooden ladle, and with these unusual implements, Marouska and Ruzena dug, while Etelka held the lantern, until the obstruction could be passed. There was comparative freedom after that for quite a distance. At one point the passage divided into three parts. The girls chose to go into the broadest, but scarcely had they gone twenty steps when the light in the lantern went suddenly out.
