"Can there be a secret chamber somewhere else?" said Nesta.
Brenda shook her head.
"I don't think so," she said.
"I wish father would come home," Eustace thought miserably. "He might think of something."
"We had better ask grandfather what is to be done," said Herbert at last in desperation.
It was a last resource. Nothing but the most serious business was allowed to interrupt Mr. Chase's morning, but this had become sufficiently pressing to warrant the intrusion.
In through the folding-doors trooped the anxious-looking searchers, Herbert first.
"Well, I never!" he exclaimed, for there stood Peter as calm as you please, his hands behind him, staring at his grandfather across the broad writing-table.
"Can you ride bareback?" he was inquiring in his shrill treble. "Bob can; but he said I mustn't try because it is slimy."
"Slimy?" repeated Mr. Chase, with brows bent in perplexity.