Frances and Edith shrieked at thought of such sumptuousness and one by one each expressed an opinion as to what the box would resemble and its probable contents. Roger decided that the chest was of solid iron, fastened by seven locks of which they would have to find the seven keys and that inside would be discovered a complete suit of royal armor.
"I fear that Prince Charles would not have made good his escape from
England clad in a clanking suit of mail," said the amused Colonel.
Just then Yvonne entered with her usual pretty air of importance. "It is Pierre who desires M'sieur to attend in the cellar," she said, addressing herself to Max.
The entire party rose, hastily placing tea-cups on any convenient article of furniture. Roger found the floor most accessible for his, but with prudent foresight took with him such easily conveyed articles as the jam sandwiches and plum cake upon his plate.
Down in the cellar, Pierre and McNeil, the Scotch gardener, stood facing the northern wall just where the newer wing joined the oldest Manor vault. Before them yawned a hole already two feet in diameter.
With a grin on his face, Pierre thrust his crowbar through and showed that a space not quite a yard wide intervened before the tool brought up against what was in reality the outer wall of the cellar. The partition itself was only a foot thick, but because it was of equal thickness throughout its length, Max had not been able to detect any difference in resonance.
"Bien, Pierre!" exclaimed Max eagerly. "En avant!"
Pierre and McNeil attacked the wall again, Pierre all smiles and gay glances over this remarkable whim of M'sieur Max, whose whims as a rule he found enjoyable; McNeil looking perhaps not grimmer than usual, but as though the whole affair was quite below his dignity. To knock a hole in a perfectly good stone partition which would require a mason to fill and put in proper shape again at an expense of solid Jersey shillings, struck his thrifty Scotch soul as folly. Still, if Colonel Lisle wished to indulge Mr. Max in this youthful eccentricity, it was not McNeil's place to protest.
After fifteen minutes a cavity yawned in the cellar wall, disclosing a passage leading to the left.
"That will do, McNeil," said the Colonel. "That's enough for the purpose. Go ahead, boys. It was through your efforts that the tunnel was located, so it is for you to see this out."