“Now pull up that end, sir.”
Roy took hold of the panelled oaken side of the locker on his left, and to his astonishment the end of the coffer-like affair glided easily up, bringing with it one end of the oaken bottom; while the other end, turning upon a pivot on the middle, went down, laying open a square shaft going at a slope apparently into the thickness of the wall.
Roy uttered an ejaculation of wonder, while the sergeant struck a light, lit a lantern, got feet first into the locker, and let himself slide; and they saw him descend a dozen feet at an easy slope, stand upright, and hold the light for them to follow and stand by him in a narrow passage with an arched roof.
“Easy enough, when you know how,” said the man.
“Ay, easy enough, when you know how,” growled Ben, while Roy examined a short, stout ladder hanging from a couple of hooks by the arched ceiling.
“For going back?” he said.
“Yes, sir,” was the reply, as the sergeant moved forward a few steps to allow his men to follow, which they did as if quite accustomed to the task.
The narrow passage ended at the top of a spiral staircase just wide enough to allow a man to pass along, and down this he went with a light, the others following, till they had descended to a great depth.
“Hundred steps,” growled Ben, as they stood now in a square crypt-like chamber, with a pointed archway in the centre of the wall at one end.
“There you are, sir,” said the sergeant, holding up the lantern, “cut right through the stone. It’s as dry as tinder, though it does go straight under the moat. Isn’t it strange that you didn’t know of this?”