“Good-bye, Mariette!” he shouted, before his captor could stop him. “Go on praying—we shall escape all right in the end!” Then a thick muffler was fastened over his mouth, and he felt himself being led away across the grass.
Over rough ground they went, along lanes, across ploughed fields. Every now and then Danny was lifted up and pitched roughly over a gate, or dragged through a hedge. It seemed to him that they had been walking for miles when at last his captor halted, and he heard the sound of a key grating in a rusty lock. He felt himself being led through a doorway, and his feet resounded with a hollow sound as he walked over a wooden floor.
“Sounds like an empty house,” he told himself. And the musty, close smell seemed to confirm this idea. Another door was unlocked, and Danny felt himself being led down some stone stairs. Then through another door they passed.
“Loose him,” said Black Bill’s harsh voice. This was done, then taking up an old tin can, Black Bill’s son went out and returned with it full of water. By it he placed a loaf.
“There you are,” said Black Bill; “you can feast on that for a few days. It will teach you not to come prying into other people’s business. Come,” he added, turning to his son. The two men went out, slamming the door behind them, and Danny heard their heavy footsteps going up the stairs.
Gradually his eyes got used to the darkness, and he found he was in a kind of cellar. It was empty save for a heavy wooden settle at one end. The only opening, besides the door by which he had entered, was a little barred window some ten feet up in the wall.
Sitting down on the settle, Danny heaved a heavy sigh. Then he suddenly remembered something, grinned, and began to whistle.
“Well,” he said, “this is an adventure anyhow, and I’m sure to come out all right.”
CHAPTER XVII
THE CUBS TO THE RESCUE
No Danny! There was consternation at the Hall. Where could he be? The Cubs were wild with grief. While all the grown-ups puzzled their heads over the question, the Cubs went straight to the point and arrived at the correct conclusion by a guess. “That old beast, Black Bill, has stolen him,” they said. But the grown-ups said it was absurd, and little boys should not talk nonsense. A careful inquiry began as to where Danny had last been seen, and it was soon proved that he had gone down to the circus for the 8 o’clock performance.