"No, we must wait till we've spoken to Mr Buckley," said Simpson. "We have no authority to waylay the man. I'll tell you what we can do: we'll take possession of the ruins so that he cannot return to the cave or tunnel, whatever it is, without being seen. Hurry up, you fellows; get your staves. No shouting, mind. Double."
It did not take the "Wolves" long to reach the ruins.
"Where's the hole, Phillips?" asked several of the lads.
Without replying, Phillips walked across to the concealed stone and swept away a layer of dirt and dust that Tassh had thrown over it.
"Here you are; help me to heave it up," he said, as soon as the position of the slab was disclosed. "Why, here's a ring let into the stone! Now, all together."
Thrusting a staff through the rusty ring, the Scouts gave a combined heave. The stone came up quite easily.
"I might have known that," remarked Phillips to the Leader of the "Wolves." "Tassh pushed it up, and he does not look a particularly strong man. But why is the lid so light in comparison with its size?"
An examination revealed that the lid was deeply hollowed on the under side, so that its weight was hardly a quarter of what it would have been had the cavity not existed.
"We must have walked over the stone dozens of times and not noticed it sounded hollow," said Hayes. "Now what are we going to do, Simpson?"
"We'll just have a look at this hole or tunnel, whatever it is. Golly! Atherton's missed something by going off to meet the Scoutmaster."