Down the iron ladder they climbed, Paul a bit afraid for he was not used to adventures of this sort. Then along the hidden way they went in single file.
But suddenly George, who was leading, stopped in dismay. The others bumped into him.
“What’s up, George?” asked Jack.
“Just what I feared!” groaned George. “The roof’s fallen in again - and it’s a bad fall this time. We’ll never clear it! We’re trapped!”
Jack pressed by George and looked at the fall of earth and stones in silence. It was true. It was a very bad fall - now what were they to do?
An Exciting Time
“Goodness, George! Whatever shall we do now?” said Jack anxiously. “We can never clear that fall - it looks as if the roof has fallen in for yards! We can’t go back to the Old House - we’d just be walking into danger!”
George rubbed his chin and thought hard. They couldn’t go forward - they couldn’t go back - and certainly they couldn’t stay in the middle!
“Seems as if we’d better go and have a look at that other blocked-up passage,” said George at last. “You know - the one that branches off this one to join the secret way between the shore-cave and the cellars of the Old House.”
“Right,” said Jack. “The block there may not be so bad as it looks. It’s our only chance anyway.”