“Now, my lady,” he said, with a happy smile, “if you will keep your eyes open you will behold a wonderful thing.”
A weaker man than he could have set the rock in motion. He put forth his strength gradually, for the purpose of testing the matter, and he had exerted not more than a moiety of it when he felt the ponderous mass give, and heard the sharp click of the spring beneath.
A moment later the end of the stone where they stood began to move—to swing outward, away from the wall—and in a few seconds the aperture underneath was exposed to view.
Never mind the loud astonishment of the lady, nor the more quiet surprise of the maid. The earl himself was filled with wonderment, and did not hesitate to acknowledge it. The whole thing was a wonder, not only the finding of the subterranean chamber and the marvelous mechanism by which the altar was controlled, but the very existence of the place.
“Evidently,” he said, when Percy had asked him his opinion of the origin of the crypt, and its secret mode of entrance, “it was constructed by the monks a great many years ago. We have a record of a fraternity of Franciscans here, with a monastery somewhere near the site now occupied by the castle, probably on that self-same spot, as many of the foundation stones of the present structure show unmistakable signs of having been used before.
“For instance, there is a stone near the southeastern corner of the old keep, close down by the sward, which we know must once have served as the keystone of a strong, massive arch. And there are others near it, which came from the same arch. However, that has nothing to do with this chapel. My opinion is this: At the time when those old monks lived here there were frequent incursions on the coast from piratical hordes, and those pirates were in the habit of making churches and monkish establishments their especial game. We may suppose that the friars first found this cave; also its connection with other caves, at a distance, towards the sea. How natural that it should occur to them what a capital means of escape all this would be if they only had a way of entering the cave secretly—unseen by their enemies the pirates. And then, you see, as a natural sequence, came the chapel with its wonderfully constructed altar. Of course, it’s only supposition; but it will answer till we can find a better solution.”
“Which, I think,” said the young man frankly and honestly, “would be difficult to find. In fact, your solution appears not only plausible, and entirely reasonable, but, come to think the matter all over, I can find no room for any other. We may suppose, of course, that the machinery beneath for working the ponderous trap has been renewed. But anybody with mechanical skill might have done that.”
After that they prepared to go down. The earl and the guide had each a brace of good pistols, and each a sword. Also, they had brought with them two good lanterns which could be utterly darkened should occasion require. Percy produced flint and steel, by means of which he set on fire a piece of punk wood, then lighted a brimstone match, and very shortly the lanterns were alight.
The muskets and the basket of provisions they ventured to leave behind, on top of the altar, and presently Percy put his foot upon the ladder and went down. Cordelia followed next, then came the earl, with Mary Seymour bringing up the rear.
We can imagine the wonder of the girls and their various exclamations; but their interest was not greater than was that of the earl. And even the guide himself found more to interest him than he had found before.