"I expect Mr. Brown will tell us to go to the Duchess's Toes and hear of something to our dis-advantage," said Hugh sarcastically.
"If we are going to look for Mr. Brown we will have to hurry," said Prudence, who had gone to the entrance of the cave and was scrutinizing the beach; "by the look of the shadows I should say it was a good bit after seven. In not much more than an hour we must be sitting down at breakfast tidy and brushed."
They found when they came out that there was a footpath up to the Duke's Nose—a very steep and boulder-strewn path, but quite a possible one for them all; so they went for it manfully and womanfully and were soon at top. But alas! the door of the hut was closed and locked; no one answered their repeated knocks, and they came to the unwilling conclusion that the place was empty.
"Blow!" said Dick at last. "Why couldn't the old treasure-hider put his old treasure in an easier place?"
"If he had, someone else would have found it," Mollie remarked sensibly, "and anyhow it is a lark searching for it."
At that moment a man's figure could be seen coming towards the hut; he was swinging a billy-can by the handle.
"That's the man I saw last night," exclaimed Grizzel; "I expect he is
Mr. Brown."
The man was rather surprised to see six children congregated before his hut door at that hour of the morning. Prudence was pushed forward as spokeswoman. "Please, are you Mr. Brown?" she asked, in her most polite voice.
"I am, miss. Anything I can do for you?"
"We found this piece of paper," she said, showing the latest message to him, "and we brought it to you like it says."