by Энид Блайтон
“O-o-oh!” squealed Nora. “We can find it too!”
“Don’t interrupt,” said Peggy, her face pale with excitement. “Go on, Jack.”
“He goes on to tell how he got into the passage, which runs down the walls of our tower to the ground, up the cliff to the Old House, branches off to join our own secret passage somewhere, and also goes on to the tower of the Old House, up and inside the thick walls there, and into the topmost room of the tower!” Jack could hardly speak, he was so thrilled at having found what he wanted.
“There’s a rough map here that he drew after he had found out all about the passage. He kept the secret to himself, because he was afraid that if he didn’t his father might have the passage blocked up.”
Everyone pored over the map. It was faded and difficult to see, even under the magnifying-glass, but the children could plainly follow the passage from their tower, downwards in the wall right to the ground and below it, then underground to the Old House, up through the thick walls there, and into the top room of the Old House tower.
“I knew I was right! I knew I was right!” said Dimmy, quite as excited as the children.
“Let’s go straight up and find it!” said Nora. “Come on! Oh, do come on!”
They all fled upstairs, tumbling over the steps in their haste. They must find that secret door in the chimney. Quick! Quick!
Another Secret Passage!
They all rushed into Jack’s bedroom at the top of the tower - but at the first look round Peggy gave a cry. “What sillies we are! There’s no fireplace here!”
“Goodness - of course not,” said Jack in dismay. “I’d completely forgotten that. But the map quite clearly shows that the passage starts somewhere in the chimney.”
“Our room below has a big stone fireplace!” cried Nora. “It must be there that the passage starts. Hurry!”
Down they tore to Nora’s room, where there was certainly a big, old-fashioned stone fireplace. Jack looked up it.
“Get me a stool or something,” he said. “I can stand on that and grope about.”
So, with the girls jigging impatiently about below, Jack stood on a stool and groped about in the dirty old chimney. At one side he felt what seemed to him to be narrow steps cut in the chimney. He told Miss Dimmy, looking down at her as black as a little sweep!
“Yes, that’s right, there would be steps there,” said Dimmy. “In the olden days small boys were sent up to sweep these big chimneys and sometimes steps were cut to help them. Can you get up them, Jack?”
Jack thought he could. So up he went, choking over the years-old soot. The steps were very small, and came unexpectedly to a little opening off the chimney itself. Jack was sure that the door to the hidden passage was somewhere in that opening!
The stones and bricks were intermixed there and were rough to his hand. He pulled and pushed at each one, hoping it would swing round and show him an opening beyond. But not until he suddenly slipped and bumped against a certain stone did anything move at all!
His shoulder fell against a stone that stood out from the rest. It gave under his weight, and seemed to swing round, giving a click as it did so. Jack quickly shone his torch on to it, and saw a small hole appearing in the wall of the chimney. He put his hand into the hole and felt an iron ring.
“I’ve found the entrance! I’ve found it!” he yelled down the chimney. He pulled hard at the iron ring, and felt the stone to which it was fastened move a little; but no matter how hard Jack pulled he could not make the stone move any farther.
He climbed down the chimney, and the girls cried out in horror when they saw his black face and hands. He grinned at them, and his teeth shone white in his mouth.
“Dimmy, we’ll have to get George to help us,” he said. “I think the entrance-stone is stiff with the years that have gone by since it was last used. If we got George to bring a thick rope and fasten it to the iron ring I’ve found up there, we could swing the stone round all right and see the entrance to the passage. The stone has moved just a little - I can see the crack with my torch where it should come away from its place.”
“George is working in the garden this afternoon,” said Dimmy joyfully. “We can get him easily. No, Jack, no, don’t you go and get him - you look so awful!”
But Jack was gone. He sped down the staircase and out into the garden. George was busy digging up potatoes. Jack burst on him, crying, “George, George, come quickly!”
George looked up in surprise, and saw a black, grinning creature running towards him. He got a tremendous shock and dropped his spade. It took him quite a minute before he would believe that the black creature was his friend Jack!
Talking eagerly and telling George things that astonished the farm-lad greatly, Jack led him up the stone staircase to the girls’ bedroom.
“Has he brought a rope?” cried Nora.
George nearly always had a rope tied two or three times round his waist. He gaped at the two girls and Miss Dimmy, and then said, “Where’s Mike?”
“You haven’t been listening!” said Jack impatiently. “I was telling you all the way up.”
“Let me tell him,” said Dimmy, seeing that George really was thinking that everyone was quite mad. So she told him the whole story as shortly as possible. George nodded his head solemnly every now and again. He didn’t really seem astonished now that he knew everything, but his eyes gleamed when he heard that Dimmy wanted him to go up the chimney and tie his rope to the iron ring.
“I’d like to get Mike back all right,” said George, undoing the rope round his middle. It proved to be very long and very strong. He disappeared into the chimney with Jack’s torch. Jack tried to climb up after him, he was so impatient, but came down at once, his eyes and mouth full of soot kicked down by George’s enormous boots.
George found the iron ring in the little opening and knotted his rope in it. The end fell down the chimney to the hearth like a brown snake. George jumped down.
“Now we’ll all pull,” he said, with his slow, wide smile. So they all pulled - and the rope gave a little as the big stone above swung round and back, leaving just enough room for anyone to squeeze through.
Jack climbed up the chimney again and gave a shout as he saw the dark opening. “Oh, the secret passage is here all right! Come on, all of you!”
Poor Dimmy! She was really horrified at seeing everyone go up that dirty, sooty old chimney and getting as black as negroes - but even she went up too, just to see what kind of a secret passage it could be!
George had squeezed through the opening that was made when one big stone had swung out of its place. It had been cunningly built on a kind of swivel set in the next stone, and when weight was put on to the iron ring the stone swung round.
A very narrow way led round the back of the chimney - so narrow that George had to walk sideways to make himself small enough. Then he came to an iron ladder set at his feet, disappearing down into the darkness. He called back to the children.
“There’s a ladder here, going downwards. I reckon there’s an outer wall and an inner wall to part of this tower, and that’s where the passage is! The rest of the tower wall is solid.”
Down the narrow iron ladder they all went. They had to hold their torches in their teeth, for they needed both their hands. Dimmy had no torch, so she stood at the top of the ladder, waiting for them all to return.
The iron ladder went right down inside the wall and ended below the tower itself. A small room was at the foot of the ladder, and in it the children saw two old tops, a wooden hand-carved toy boat and some old, mildewed books.
“This must have been Dimmy’s grandfather’s hidey-hole when he was a boy,” said Jack. “Look at his toys!”
From this small underground room, smelling so musty and queer, a narrow passage led up the cliff.
“This passage can’t be so very far underground,” said George, leading the way. “Hallo! Look there! Surely that is daylight?”
It was! A bright circle of day
light shone not far above their heads.
“I guess a rabbit has made its burrow above us,” said Jack, with a laugh. “He must have burrowed from the surface down to this passage. What a shock for him when he fell through!”
“Well, the bunny has let some fresh air into this place, at any rate,” said George. “Perhaps that is what has kept it fresh enough to breathe in.”
They went along the passage, and then came to a stop. “What’s up, George? Why have you stopped?” asked Jack.
“Because the passage has fallen in here,” said George. “We’ll have to get spades and dig it free again. The roof has fallen in, and we can’t get any farther. We’ll come back and dig it out. I reckon the passage goes on to the tower of the Old House, and then we’ll find an iron ladder going up inside the walls just as we found at Peep-Hole.”
The children squeezed back through the passage and went up the iron ladder to the chimney. Dimmy had got down again and was waiting for them in the girls’ room, having washed herself clean.
They told her excitedly what they had found. Jack ran down to the shed to get spades, and to find some biscuits for himself, for he had had no dinner.
“We shall be able to rescue Mike and Paul very soon now,” said Peggy hopefully.
“Better clear the passage now and try to get to the boys to-night,” said George thoughtfully. “You see, if we can rescue them at night there’s not so much fear of us being heard, and we can get a good few hours’ start of the folk at the Old House.”
“Right, George,” said Dimmy, who was just as excited as the children.
George and Jack went to clear the passage ready for the night’s adventure. The girls went to wash themselves, and to pore once more over the exciting diary that had told them just what they wanted to know.
In an hour’s time Jack and George came back, hot, dusty, sooty, and thirsty. Dimmy made them have a bath, and put on clean clothes - though George looked very comical in Mike’s shorts and jersey! Then they all sat down to a good tea, which they really felt they had earned.
“This is getting more and more exciting!” said Peggy, spreading her bread and butter with Dimmy’s homemade shrimp paste. “I feel as if I’m bursting with excitement. If only old Mike knew what we were doing!”
“He’ll know soon enough,” said Jack, with his mouth full.
“I reckon the queer folk up at the Old House will be pretty furious when they find Mike and the prince gone,” said George rather solemnly. “I think you’d better all get away from here with Paul, whilst Miss Dimity and I tell the police and find out a bit more about this prince of yours.”
“Get away from here?” said Jack. “But where could we go that was safe?”
No sooner had he said it than he and the girls had the most marvellous idea in the world.
“Our secret island! We’d be safe there! It’s not far from here!” yelled Jack.
“The secret island!” cried Peggy and Nora.
“What’s that?” asked George in astonishment.
“It’s on Lake Wildwater, about forty miles from here,” said Jack. “We lived on our secret island on the lake when we ran away once - it would be a wonderful place for the prince till he’s safe from his enemies.”
“Good idea!” said George. “I’ll take you round the coast in my boat to Longrigg, where I’ve a brother who has a car. He can drive you to Wildwater - and you can do the rest!”
“Won’t Mike be pleased, won’t Mike be pleased!” shouted Nora. “Oh, I do feel so happy!” And she danced poor Dimmy round and round the room till Dimmy had to beg for mercy!
The Rescue of the Prisoners
It was arranged that Mike and Paul should be rescued that night through the secret passage - if only the entrance at the other end could be used and was not too old or stiff!
“Jack and I went right along the passage to the Old House tower,” said George. “There’s an iron ladder there like ours. I reckon it leads up to the top room, to the fireplace.”
“We had better plan everything carefully,” said Dimmy. “George and Jack had better rescue the boys, and bring them safely back here. Then I and the girls will prepare plenty of food and take it down to George’s boat. We will wait there for you.”
“Yes, we shall need plenty of food on the secret island,” said Nora. “There are wild raspberries there, and wild strawberries, but that’s about all, unless we catch rabbits and fish as we did last year when we lived there!”
“You’ll only be there a day or two until we can find out about Prince Paul and get someone to take charge of him till he goes back to his own land,” said Dimmy. “I will stay behind here - and George will return to me, too, so that I shall be able to deal with the folk at the Old House. I shall simply say that you have all gone away.”
“Dimmy, let’s get the food ready for to-night,” said Peggy eagerly. “We only need food - we don’t need saucepans or kettles, or beds or anything like that - everything is neatly stored away in the dry caves on the secret island, ready for when we went there again. But we shall need plenty of food for five people.”
So the two girls and Dimmy began to pack up all kinds of food. There was a joint of meat, two dozen tarts, a tin of cakes of all kinds, a tin of biscuits, some tins of soup and fruit, potatoes and peas from the garden, and a basket of ripe plums. Cocoa was put into the box of food, and tins of milk. Nora remembered the sugar, and Peggy thought of the salt. It was really exciting packing everything up.
George carried the big box down to the boat and stowed it there. Jack followed with two baskets. Dimmy hurriedly stuffed a box of black currant lozenges into one basket, in case any of them caught cold that night.
“I think that’s everything,” said Dimmy. “You must wear your coats to-night, for the weather is a bit colder. Good gracious me, what an adventure this is! I never thought I’d have such a time at my age!”
“Dimmy dear, I wish you were coming with us to our lovely secret island,” said Peggy. “You’d love it so. You’ll be lonely without us here, won’t you?”
“Yes,” said Dimmy. “But perhaps you’ll soon be back again. Anyway, it will be nice to have Mike safe. I don’t like to think of him up there in that tower all the time.”
The night came quickly, for they had all been busy. It was arranged that George and Jack should go to rescue the two boys about half-past eleven. George had already been to the next village and had rung up his brother at Longrigg to tell him to have a car ready for the children. In fact, George was really marvellous.
“Now it’s time to go,” said George, looking at the enormous watch he kept in his waistcoat pocket. “Miss Dimity, you will go down to my boat with the girls, won’t you, in a few minutes. Jack and I will bring the boys back here by the secret passage and slip down to the boat too. Then we can set off.”
“Good luck, George!” said Nora. “Good luck, Jack!”
Dimmy and the girls went to the tower-room with them and watched them climb up the chimney. They heard them groping round the narrow way behind the chimney to the iron ladder. Then there was silence.
“We’d better get Mike’s coat and an extra coat for Prince Paul,” said Dimmy. “Then we’ll make our way to the beach and sit in the boat till the others come. I’ll just give you both a drink of hot milk first, for I can see you are shivering!”
“It’s with excitement, not with cold,” said Nora. But she was glad of the hot milk all the same.
“I do wonder how George and Jack are getting on,” said Peggy. “I wonder if they’ve reached the Old House tower yet.”
George and Jack were getting on very well. They had climbed down the iron ladder, their torches between their teeth. They had gone through the little room below, where the old old toys still lay, and had made their way through the narrow passage underground that led to the Old House.
When they came to the part where they had cleared away the fallen roof that afternoon George shone his torch round. “It looks to me as if another
bit of the roof will fall in at any moment,” said George anxiously. “I hope it lasts till we get back.”
“So do I,” said Jack. “It would be awful to be caught because the roof fell in. Gracious, George - a bit of it’s tumbling in now - some stones fell on my coat.”
“Well, let’s hope for the best,” said George. “Come on.”
On they went, and presently came to where another narrow passage forked off from the one they were following.
“That’s the passage to the secret way between the shore-cave and the cellars of the Old House,” said Jack. “It’s a pity that is blocked up too, George, or we might have tried it.”
The two had already seen that afternoon that the passage joining theirs to the shore-cave passage was blocked up with fallen stones, and they had not tried to clear it, for, as George said, it might be blocked up all the way. It was quicker to use the passage from one tower to the other, and to return to Peep-Hole and run down to the beach by the cliff-path.
They soon came to the iron ladder that led up the inside of the walls of the Old House tower. They climbed it as quietly as they could. They came to a narrow ledge running round the back of a chimney-place. They squeezed round it, and found themselves in a small dark place with stone walls all around.
“Feel for an iron ring,” whispered George. “There is sure to be one here. If we can find it, we’ll slip my rope into it, and both pull hard. I reckon the stone will swivel round just like ours at Peep-Hole did.”
So they felt about for an iron ring, and shone their torches here and there - and at last George found the ring! He slipped his rope into it and knotted it. Then he and Jack pulled this way and that way - and suddenly the stone in which the iron ring was set groaned a little, swung slowly round - and there, in front of George and Jack, was the entrance to the fireplace built in the top room of the Old House tower!