“I saw you just now coming out of some opening in the earth.”
This alarmed Ernest. He felt that he might be called upon to explain where he had been.
“Who is this man?” he asked himself. “Is he one who is likely to be in the confidence of the outlaws? If so I have only got out of one scrape to fall into another.”
He studied the face of the man with whom he was speaking and to his dismay noted a resemblance to James Fox. He began to suspect that this was his brother.
Whether it was or not Ernest deemed it politic to say as little as possible of his experiences and of what he knew about the cave and its occupants.
“Yes,” he answered quietly; “there seems to be a cave underneath. I found the trap-door open and went down, but I regretted it, for I found it difficult to get out again.”
His new acquaintance eyed him scrutinizingly, as if to see whether he knew more than he was willing to reveal.
“So there is a cave underneath?” he said.
“Yes.”
“Have you any idea what it is used for?”