He had not long to wait. With a lusty heave the stone rose and toppled backwards, disclosing a circular cavity of about two feet in diameter. Out of the hole appeared the head and shoulders of a man.
Placing his hands on the edge of the aperture, the fellow raised himself clear of the hole and stood blinking in the strong sunlight.
"Golly! It's that chap Tassh. Whatever is his little game," thought Phillips.
As soon as his eyes grew accustomed to the daylight, Tassh replaced the stone, scattered dust over it, and stole to one of the windows in the opposite wall to the one behind which the Scout was crouching.
Looking in the direction of the camp, Tassh muttered an inaudible exclamation, then bending low he crept across the fairly open space and gained the shelter of the gorge. Here he broke into a run, and was soon lost to sight as he made off in the direction of the Tea Caves.
"Atherton was right: that chap's up to mischief, I'll be bound," thought Phillips. "Well, it's not much use my following him alone. He's making for the caves we explored the other day. I'll rout out Simpson and the 'Wolves,' and we can decide what's to be done."
"I say, Simpson," he exclaimed breathlessly, as he reached the camp, "I've seen——"
"Yes, seen—but how many did you shoot?" asked the Leader of the "Wolves." "We're waiting to dress the rabbits in time for our new Scoutmaster."
"They'll have to wait. I've knocked over three. But, I say, I've made a discovery. I've just seen Tassh crawl out of a secret tunnel opening into the old ruins."
At this startling information the "Wolves" were in a state of excitement. Neale and Fraser proposed following the butler, surrounding him and peremptorily demanding an explanation of his suspicious actions—a suggestion that the two Coventrys and Armstrong backed up for all they were worth.