"Come: a little vigor!" said Dorothy in a tone of jest. "The statements of the Marquis are gospel truth. He has written that the stone on the right will slip back. Let the stone on the right slip back."
"Mine is moving," said the Englishman, on the left.
"So is mine," said the Italian, on the right.
"It isn't possible!" cried Dorothy incredulously.
"But it is! But it is!" declared the Englishman. "And the stone above it, too. They are slipping back from the top."
The words were hardly out of his mouth, when the two stones, forming one piece, slipped back into the interior of the wall and revealed in the semi-darkness the foot of a staircase and some steps.
The Englishman uttered a cry of triumph:
"The worthy gentleman did not lie! There's the staircase!"
For a moment they remained speechless. Not that there was anything extraordinary in the affair so far; but it was a confirmation of the first part of the Marquis de Beaugreval's statement; and they asked themselves if the rest of his predictions would not be fulfilled with the same exactness.
"If it turns out that there are a hundred and thirty-two steps, I shall declare myself convinced," said Errington.