She obeyed, and found there was about space enough to squeeze herself between the rock and the cliff. Dick caught her by the hand as she joined him, and pointed to a large opening like a yawning cavern in the face of the cliff.
"The secret passage!" he cried. "Oh Ruth, it must be the secret passage!"
"Oh, do you think it can be? How glad I am! I never thought we should find it, really! How lucky you slipped like that! But you don't want to go in, do you? Oh, I couldn't! It's so dark, and we don't know what might be there!"
"I don't suppose there is anything there that would hurt us," Dick replied—he had no intention of exploring further, however; "but I think we had better go back and let grandfather know what we have discovered before we say a word about it to any one else."
"Oh, yes! Don't let us waste our time here! I'm sure this is one of the entrances to the secret passage! I wonder why it was never found before!"
"Don't you understand, Ruth. The sea washed away the east cliff last night, and the entrance must have been hidden in it somewhere. The passage hasn't always been open!"
"How stupid of me not to think of that! Come, Dick, let us get back to Holton as soon as we can!"
They squeezed their way between the rock and the cliff, and began to retrace their footsteps; but it seemed as though they were returning at a much slower rate than they had come. At last Ruth suggested that if they went nearer the water's edge it would be easier getting along, as the beach was less rocky away from the cliffs. Accordingly they did so, much to the satisfaction of Nero, who waded in and out of the sea, and persisted in shaking himself every time he came close to his companions.
"Supposing it shouldn't be the secret passage after all; how Lionel will laugh at us!" Ruth said, her bright face clouding slightly. "I vote we don't tell him anything about it before we've spoken to grandfather!"
"All right, we won't! But I think it must be the secret passage; if not, it's a cave of some sort. Look, Ruth, there's a boat anchored on the beach just ahead of us. I didn't notice it as we came; that was because we were keeping under the cliffs, I suppose. Oh, I know whose it is!" the boy continued, as they reached it; "it's Jim Cole's! Jim lives in a little cottage above that steep, zig-zag path cut in the cliff; I went there once with Uncle Theophilus when Mrs. Cole was ill. Isn't it a jolly boat?"