he surface beneath the patch, with the point of his hunting knife.
Instantly there was the sharp gritting of steel against steel.

The shout of Ronicky was an indrawn breath. The shout of Jerry Smith was
a moan of relief.

Ronicky continued his observations. The thing was very clear. They had
dug the tunnel to this point and excavated a place which they had
guarded with a steel door, but, in order to conceal the hiding place, or
whatever it might be, they cunningly worked the false wall of dirt
against the face of it, using clay and a thin coating of plaster as a
base.

"It's a place they don't use very often, maybe," said Ronicky, "and
that's why they can afford to put up this fake wall of plaster and mud
after every time they want to come down here. Pretty clever to leave
that little pile of dirt on the floor, just like it had been worked off
by the picks, eh? But we've found 'em, Jerry, and now all we got to do
is to get to the door and into whatever lies beyond."

"We'd better hurry, then," cried Jerry.

"How come?"

"Take a breath."

Ronicky obeyed; the air was beginning to fill with the pungent and
unmistakable odor of burning wood!

Chapter Twenty-one

_The Miracle_

No great intelligence was needed to understand the meaning of it.
Fernand, having trapped his game, was now about to kill it. He could
suffocate the two with smoke, blown into the tunnel, and make them rush
blindly out. The moment they appeared, dazed and uncertain, the
revolvers of half a dozen gunmen would be emptied into them.

"It's like taking a trap full of rats," said Ronicky bitterly, "and
shaking them into a pail of water. Let's go back and see what we can."

They had only to turn the corner of the tunnel to be sure. Fernand had
had the door of the tunnel slid noiselessly open, then, into the tunnel
itself, smoking, slowly burning, pungent pieces of pine wood had been
thrown, having been first soaked in oil, perhaps. The tunnel was rapidly
filling with smoke, and through the white drifts of it they looked into
the lighted cellar beyond. They would run out at last, gasping for
breath and blinded by the smoke, to be shot down in a perfect light. So
much was clear.

"Now back to the wall and try to find that door," said Ronicky.

Jerry had already turned. In a moment they were back and tearing with
their fingers at the sham wall, kicking loose fragments with their feet.

All the time, while they cleared a larger and l