“Several coves,” agreed John, “and they were carrying something heavy, from the look of these marks. What’s more, one or two of these brambles have been lopped back. See?”

Chirk nodded, but said nothing. They went on, the ground steadily rising as it approached the back of the gorge. The hill now towered above them, its rocky face seeming almost to overhang them; and the gorge narrowed rapidly. A tangle of dead gorse lay ahead, and when they drew nearer to it they saw that it had been arranged to hide a rude fence. As soon as the gorse had been pulled away, the fence was seen to cover an opening in the rock, perhaps six foot high, and almost as broad. Closer inspection revealed rusted iron staples driven into the rock on either side of the opening. To these the rude fence was secured with lengths of twine.

“Fresh,” Chirk said, a little grimly, pulling the knot apart. “If you ain’t had the sense to bring your own pistols, Soldier, you’d better have one of mine!”

“You can give it to me, if we’re followed,” replied John. “That there’s no one inside at least we know: you couldn’t tie the fence to the staples from inside that hole.” He dropped on his knee as he spoke, setting the lantern he carried down within the cave-mouth, and taking his tinderbox from his pocket.

Both lanterns alight, and burning fairly, Chirk said: “One of us ought to stay and keep watch.”

“Well, if you’ve a fancy for sentry-duty, you stay and do so!” recommended the Captain lightheartedly.

“Danged if I will!” said Chirk.

“Then come on!” John said, and, stooping, entered the cavern.

Chapter 12

ALMOST immediately, he found himself able to stand upright, and holding the lantern high saw that he was standing in a roughly vaulted chamber of considerable size. Chirk, entering behind him, and looking around, said, with a certain amount of satisfaction: “Well, there ain’t nothing here, that’s certain! Queer sort of a place to find in a hill! Was it made natural?”

“Quite natural. Have you never been inside a limestone cavern before?”

“No, I can’t say as I have. I’ve heard tell of them, though. Big, ain’t it?”

“Bigger than you think, I fancy.” John walked forward, still holding up the lantern. “Yes, I thought as much! This is only the antechamber, Jerry.” He walked to the back of the cave, where a narrow opening, like a rude Gothic doorway, led into a passage through the rock. This ran slightly downwards into dense darkness. The lantern-light showed the uneven rock-face gleaming damply; underfoot the ground was soft, mushy with moisture; and the air felt dank. John heard Chirk draw in his breath sharply, and said, amusement in his voice: “Have your nerves enough steel for this adventure?”

“What you’ve got bottom for, I have!” Chirk answered through his teeth. “Go on!”

John went forward, easily at first, but was soon obliged to duck his head, and, in a very few moments, to bend almost double. He could hear Chirk breathing hard behind him, and said: “Careful! The roof’s devilish low ahead: we may have to crawl!”

They were not actually obliged to do this, but by the time they had reached a loftier space they were thankful to pause, and to stand upright. Something grazed John’s head as he straightened his aching back, and he directed the lantern’s beam upwards, running it over the roof of the chamber. “By Jupiter!” he said softly. “That’s something to have seen, Jerry!”

“What are they?” asked Chirk, staring upwards. “They look like icicles to me, and the lord knows it’s cold enough!”

“Not icicles: stalactites. They’re formed by the dripping of the water—thousands of years of it! I told you this would be a capital go!”

“I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed myself more,” said Chirk sardonically. “If this was where young Stornaway came, I’m not surprised he caught a chill! Look, Soldier! The walls are streaming wet! What makes ’em so?”

“Water, of course. What’s more, it’s Carlton House to a Charley’s shelter there’s a river somewhere below us. There’s one in the Peak cavern, and a boat on it: Miss Nell told me about it. Are you ready to go on?”

“I’m within ames-ace of going back!” replied Chirk, with mordant humour. “Howsever, if we’ve got to go on, let’s cut line and go!”

John had moved cautiously forward, peering ahead. “Take care!” he said suddenly. “We’re dropping down fast now, and there’s a damned lot of loose rubble! Hell and the devil confound it, I wish I hadn’t put these boots on! Lord, it’s a regular stairway! Look!”

The passage had widened considerably. Chirk, who was standing with his lantern directed on to the rock-face above his head, withdrew his fascinated gaze to glance down the steep descent. Fragments of jutting rock did indeed form the semblance of a stairway, but the drop from one to another was sometimes of several feet, and for the most part the ground was littered with rubble, and treacherously loose stones, some of them of great size. It was not difficult to perceive how Henry Stornaway’s father had broken a leg in the cavern. Chirk said so, with some asperity. He then begged the Captain to pause. “Just you cast your ogles over this devil’s work!” he adjured him, keeping the beam of his lantern fixed on the rock. “Don’t you tell me that wicked face came there natural, Soldier!”

It took John a moment to perceive what was holding Chirk chained to the spot. Then he laughed, and said: “Good God, it’s only the weathering of the rock that’s done that! If we had the time to waste, I daresay we could pick out a dozen weird faces!”

“Thank’ee, I’d as lief go on!” said Chirk. “But for the lord’s sake take care how you set your feet down!”

The descent, though it was not very long, took time, but close to the walls the rocks were reasonably firm, and after perhaps thirty feet the staircase became a slope, down which it was easy to walk. Occasionally the roof dipped suddenly, making it necessary for them to stoop, and once a long stalactite knocked Chirk’s hat off. The cold was intense, and a faint sound of rushing, steadily increasing, did nothing to add to Chirk’s enjoyment.

“Hear that noise?” John said, in a satisfied voice. “I told you there would be a river! Now what have we come to?”

The ground had ceased to slope downwards, and the passage suddenly widened. The sweep of John’s lantern failed to discover the walls, and when he turned it upwards it only dimly illuminated the roof.

“We must have reached the main cavern. Jupiter, what a place! Stay where you are. I want to find how big it is, and whether it leads on farther still.” He moved to one side as he spoke, playing the lantern before him. In a moment it lit up the rock-face, jagged and gleaming. Chirk, standing at the entrance to the huge chamber, watched it travel on, and then swing round to light the wall opposite to where he stood. A black cavity yawned, and the Captain said, his words resounding eerily: “I’ve found another passage!”

“I see you have,” replied Chirk.

To his secret relief, the Captain moved on, and presently rounded the corner of the chamber, and began to make his way slowly back towards the entrance, his lantern playing all over the rock-face. “Chirk, this is a wonderful place!” he declared. “Come over here! The rock’s honeycombed with galleries above our heads! I wish we had a ladder! There’s no reaching them without one!”

“I don’t doubt you’d like to go crawling along a lot of galleries,” said Chirk tartly, walking towards him, and gazing up with revulsion, “but we’ve got no call to do so, because if there ain’t no ladder here it stands to reason no one—” He broke off, with a startled oath, almost losing his balance, as his foot came up against some obstacle. He recovered it, and brought the beam of his lantern downwards. His voice changed; he said with careful calm: “Never mind the galleries! Just you come over here, Soldier!”

John turned. “What—” Then he too stopped abruptly, for Chirk was holding the storm-lantern high, and by its golden light he saw a number of corded chests ranged along the side of the cavern. “Good God!” he ejaculated.

Three or four strides brought him up to Chirk, who, finding one chest standing on end, set his lantern down on it, and said: “That’s a coach-wheel I owe you. Lordy, I’d have laid you any odds there’d be nothing here! But what the devil’s in them?”

The Captain was on his knee, closely scrutinizing one of the chests. “Chirk!” he said, rather oddly. “Unless I’m much mistaken—this is an official seal!”

“What?” demanded Chirk, so sharply that his voice seemed to echo round the cavern. He too dropped on his knee, staring at the red seal over the knot of the cord. Then he rose, and ran his eyes over the other chests. “Six of ’em, and all alike!” he said softly, and whistled. “Small—” he bent and with an effort lifted the end of one—”but remarkable heavy!”

“The seal’s been broken on this one, and—yes, the lock’s been forced!” John said, pausing beside a chest which had been set down upon another. “Well!—let us see what’s inside it!”

He put his lantern down on another of the chests, and set to work to untie the knot. The cord fell away, and he lifted the lid. The chest was packed with neat little bags, and the chink of metal as John picked one up was not needed to tell him what these must contain. He untied the string about its neck, plunged in his hand, and drew out a fistful of yellow coins, and held them in the lantern-light, staring down at them.

“Wansbeck ford!” Chirk cried, after a stunned minute. “That’s why I know the name! Lord, what a clunch, what a totty-headed dummy! How could I have been such a beetlehead as to have forgot it?”