"Lightning isn't apt to strike twice in the same place," said Chase.
Carefully scanning the sky to see that no airplanes were in the immediate vicinity, the three began to retrace their steps.
Very soon they were climbing over great heaps of débris. The wreck and ruin were almost complete. Now they came across pieces of ornaments which had once contributed to the beauty of the interior. From a torn canvas a head of one of the ancient and noble De Morancourts seemed to stare at them with a stern and reproachful glance.
With mingled feelings of sadness and regret, they pursued their investigations. Here and there the three came across bits of marble and stained glass or portions of shattered doors and furniture. Sometimes they peered over the edge of a jagged wall, to look into an interior wherein traces of chaos and magnificence lay side by side.
The ambulanciers conversed but little; they felt in too solemn and serious a mood. Suddenly, however, Don made a discovery which brought about a change in their demeanor. Close outside the wall an immense opening in the ground had been torn. Of course there was nothing in that to be wondered at; but what Don Hale saw was something more than a huge crater. A tunnel-like passageway had been uncovered, the bottom lying perhaps twenty feet below the surface.
"Hello! What in the dickens is that!" he cried.
"We must find out," said Chase, viewing the opening with considerable astonishment.
"It may be some secret passageway," put in Dunstan, excitedly. "Upon my word, this is a mighty interesting development!"
"I should say it is," exclaimed Don Hale, and having uttered these words with much conviction, he began hastily climbing over the wreckage. The broken, uneven surfaces leading downward afforded a good foothold, and thus he was able to make his way to the bottom without much trouble.
"Yes sir, it's a subterranean passageway," he called to the others, who were sliding and slipping down the incline. "Now we'll see what's ahead of us."