Raquel appeared in the patio, pale and terrified.
"Gil! Gil!" she cried, "they are coming in! They will take me!"
"Coward! Come out and fight," was the cry from the outside.
"I am a coward for you, dear." He seized her wrists. "To the counting-house!" he whispered, "to the counting-house!" As they ran she asked, "Is there any sign of the Coco?"
"None," answered Silencio; "but we could not reach her now."
Together they flew through the hallways, across the chambers, where the blows were sounding loud upon the wooden wall of the house, upon the shutters, and the doors. They ran down the far passage and reached the counting-house door. Silencio stumbled over something near the sill.
"Ah! your bag," he said. "I told Guillermina to set it there."
He opened the door with the key held ready, and together they entered. Silencio tore the rug from the middle of the room, and disclosed to Raquel's amazed eyes a door sunken in the floor. He raised it by its heavy ring. A cold blast of air flowed upward into the warm interior. Raquel had thought the room cool before; now she shivered as if with a chill. Silencio pushed her gently toward the opening. "Go down," he said.
Raquel gazed downward at the black depths.