"Nobody touched the doors!" ejaculated Stanley. "It must be some of the ghost's work."
"Nonsense!" answered Dick sharply. "Somebody shut the doors—and locked 'em," he added after trying both. "Hi, you!" he called. "Open these doors, and be quick about it!"
"Thou fool, to come here!" exclaimed a hollow voice from the other side of the doors.
"It's the ghost! I said it was!" said Stanley,
"It's somebody fooling us," answered Tom. "Open the door, or we'll smash it down!" he added in a loud voice.
Instead of a reply there came a weird groan and then the rattle of some heavy chains. Stanley turned pale and began to tremble, but the Rovers were not much impressed.
"We don't believe in ghosts, so you might as well let us out!" cried
Dick. "That stuff you set on fire is smothering us!"
At this there was a murmur from the next room, but what was said the prisoners did not know.
"Come on, let us get out of a window!" cried Tom. His head was commencing to swim, and he could hardly see.
"Tha—that's it," murmured Sam. "Say, I'm—I'm—going—" He did not finish, but sank to the floor in a heap.