“She’s headed this way,” continued Merry, not taking any notice of Percy’s interruption, while he scanned the ship with his far-seeing sailor’s eyes. “She’s a brigantine, and she’s making for this cove.”
“Oh, well, what of it?” put in Billie. “Perhaps she is coming here for the rest cure. But she doesn’t interest me half as much as Smugglers’ Cave. Let’s not waste any more time here,” and she ran up the steps, followed by the others.
The entrance to the cave had been as cleverly concealed as if nature had conspired with the outlaws to provide them with a safe hiding place for their contraband goods. The steps appeared to lead to nothing more than a blank wall, but, following Percy around the edge of an enormous rock which, in ages past must have slipped its fastenings above, they presently came to a narrow opening between the rock and the side of the cave, just large enough for a man to go through.
“The smugglers must have had to do up their bales of silk pretty flat to get them through here,” said Ben, measuring the opening with his handkerchief, as he stooped to keep from bumping his head on the top.
“How beautiful! How wonderful!” cried the four girls, when their eyes had become used to the change from the brilliant sunlight outside to the semi-twilight of the great vaulted chamber where they now found themselves.
“Now, I’ll show you what a jim-dandy architect nature is,” said Percy. “Here’s the bathroom. No hot water, of course, but a perfectly good tub and cold water always on tap.”
He pointed out a natural basin, probably worn in the rocks by the constant dripping of water from a spring that trickled down the wall of the cave.
“Here’s the bedroom, that nice, comfortable shelf over there. Here’s your easy chair,” he continued, showing them a curious formation of rocks really resembling a big armchair with a high back.
“It’s a rocky chair and not a rocking chair,” observed Charlie, taking a seat and rising quite suddenly. “Nature is as mischievous as a little boy if she is a good architect. Look at this,” and he pointed to a very sharp, almost needle-like, piece of stone in one corner of the seat.
The others laughed gayly as they hurried after Percy and a hundred reverberating echoes startled them into silence.