Here and there high up near the roof a smoky lantern burned dimly.
Across the wide hall went Helda and down one of the long narrow passages until she reached a door at the very end.
She knocked softly upon it three times. There was no answer. She knocked again, and then opened the door. There was no lock on it on the inside, only a big bolt on the outside. She glanced in. The room was completely bare.
"She is not here," she whispered to Daimur and Redmond, who followed her into the room. Lighting some matches they looked into all the rooms adjoining, but found them deserted too.
They went back up the narrow passage.
"What shall we do?" asked Prince Redmond. "Where shall we look now?"
"We must look in all of the rooms," said Helda. "They have moved her, but she is here somewhere. If we separate we shall perhaps get along better. There is no danger of getting lost as all the passages open into the wide hall."
So they separated, Prince Redmond following Princess Helda and Daimur going alone in the opposite direction, as he thought perhaps his magic cap and spectacles might help him in his quest.
Up and down the narrow passages they went, opening all the doors and looking into all the rooms, until they grew a long way apart, for these underground passages extended away into the hill and covered a much longer area than the house above.
At last Daimur opened a little door in a dark corner. It was so low that he had to stoop to get in, but once inside the ceiling was high enough.