e
of several feet. In an instant the younger man realised what had
happened. The corridor had a purpose, after all; and the door at the
end was probably secured by a concealed spring of some sort which Drake
must have unwittingly pressed when he flung himself back against the
wall.

Without losing an instant Frobisher knelt down at the edge of the dark
opening, then turning, allowed himself to slip downward gradually, for
it was obvious that there were no steps; and as his feet touched bottom
he was barely in time to remove his fingers from the sill when the door
swung to above him with a muffled "click."

The pirates had not reached the foot of the stairs when the door closed,
so that, unless they knew or guessed at and found the secret of opening
it, the fugitives were safe from them, at any rate. But the thought
occurred to Frobisher when the door closed behind him: now that they
were in, how were they to get out again?

He called softly to Drake, and soon found that that worthy was much more
startled than hurt, although even yet hardly able to realise what had
happened to him. As soon as the little skipper had recovered his
faculties a little he listened, and hearing nothing of their pursuers,
struck a match, a box of which he had fortunately concealed in his robe,
and looked to see whether there was a spring inside the door. He failed
to find one, however, and he and Frobisher exchanged glances full of
apprehension. They seemed to have escaped a swift death for one of
lingering starvation.

But they had no time to spend in dismal forebodings. They could now
faintly hear the uproar above them in the passage as the pirates hunted
for the door by which their quarry had escaped, and crouched down
together, wondering whether their pursuers would hit upon the spring.
Minute after minute passed, however, and the door still remained closed;
and after about a quarter of an hour the pirates were heard to take
their departure, probably convinced that the fugitives had not gone down
the stairs, after all.

With a sigh of relief Frobisher turned to Drake and asked him to strike
another light, so that they might get some sort of notion where they
were. Drake did so; and the first thing the light revealed was a great
bundle of torches, evidently placed there in the bygone days for the use
of people whose business took them into this underground chamber. The
two men eagerly lighted one each, and then, taking a few m