"They must be here somewhere, lads," Captain O'Connor said. "We will find them if we have to stop here a week, and have provisions brought down from the village. It's pretty evident there is no opening between the great rocks or we must have found it. We must examine the smaller boulders. They may have one so placed that it can be dropped down over the entrance. That flat slab is a likely looking place, for instance. Three or four of you get hold of it and heave it up."
The men gathered round to lift it. Ralph stooped down and peeped under as they did so.
"Hurrah!" he shouted, "there is an opening here."
Several of the others now got hold of the stone. It was up-ended and thrown backwards, and the entrance to a passage some three feet high and two feet wide was revealed.
THE RED CAPTAIN.—IV.
"I can smell a peat fire!" one of the men exclaimed.
"This is the entrance, no doubt," Captain O'Connor said. "See, the bottom is evidently worn by feet. The passage must have been used for a long time; but it's an awkward place to follow desperate men into."
"It is, indeed," Lieutenant Adcock agreed. "They could shoot us down one by one as we go in. They would see us against the light, while we should be able to make out nothing."
"Surrender in there!" Captain O'Connor shouted. "You can't get away; and I promise you all a fair trial."
His summons was followed by a taunting laugh; and a moment later there was a sharp sound within, and a rifle-bullet struck the side of the entrance and flew out.