"Yes; it is simple."
"Then step to the door. But, Tomba!"
"Si, señor."
"Do not let any wild plan run through your mind that you will open the door suddenly, bolt through it and close it in my face. Do you still feel the creese? Well, I am on the alert!"
In truth that had been Vicente Tomba's very plan. Now he gave up the idea, for Sergeant Hal's tone and manner made it very plain that treachery would prove but another name for suicide.
"Then look out, Señor Sergente, that when I open the door there is no rush on the part of my brave ones."
"Whether you or they plan the rush, it will be the end of the world for you, Tomba," Overton warned him steadily.
"I will do my best, señor," replied Tomba in a voice well nigh as steady as the Army boy's.
Then he bent forward, pressing until he found a hidden spring. In the seemingly solid stone wall a large block of stone swung around on a pivot, disclosing a larger cellar room beyond.
"Steady, now, Tomba!"