"H'm!" ejaculated Mr. McKay. "What have we here?"
Terence was dispatched to bring a dagger and a pike from the armoury, but on further thoughts Mr. McKay forbade the lads to tamper with the door.
"Then we are done for the time being," remarked Andy. "Shall we go back for our axes?"
"A crowbar would be the thing," replied Ellerton. "But we want the two we brought."
"Probably it's as well we haven't got them," added Mr. McKay. "To tell the truth, I have my suspicions of that door, so we'll defer the opening of it till a more convenient time."
Reluctantly the lads retraced their steps to the open chasm, where Blight's body lay.
"We must bury him as soon as possible," said Mr. McKay. "There's no place here, so we must haul the body to the surface, and dig a grave in the soft earth."
"There's no soil nearer than the edge of the palm-forest," observed Andy.
"I know, but it cannot be helped."
"Isn't there a rift or a hole in the floor where we could bury him?" asked Ellerton. "After all, where does it matter, so long as he receives Christian burial?"