t week about Ginevra?
She hid inside a chest on her wedding day, when they were playing
hide-and-seek, and the lid snapped with a spring lock. They never found
her--only her bones, years afterwards!"

"Don't talk of such horrible things."

"How long does it take people to starve?" continued Cicely in a
tremulous voice.

"About ten days, I believe. They grow gradually weaker and weaker."

Cicely groaned.

"There isn't anything to drink either, and I'm getting so thirsty," she
said, her eyes filling with tears.

"We must try again," declared Lindsay, jumping up. "Let us pull out
another trunk, and manage to lift it on to the chest. I believe if I
were nearer the ceiling I should be able to push harder."

The boxes were arranged in a rather random fashion, so that as the girls
dragged one from the bottom, the whole pile came tumbling down in
confusion. They had to jump aside to avoid being hurt. When the upset
was over, Cicely pointed silently to the wall opposite. In the part
which before had been hidden was a small, low door. Here, surely, was a
chance of escape.

They scrambled over the packing-cases and trunks without troubling to
look inside them, though some had burst open in the fall. To find a way
out seemed at present far more important than more silver tankards and
salvers.

Was this exit also secured? With trembling hands Lindsay raised the
latch. To her intense relief the door opened, showing a very narrow,
unlighted passage.

After their experience in the garret it was not encouraging to find
themselves once more obliged to explore in the dark, but there seemed
nothing else to be done.

"It must lead somewhere," said Cicely. "I'd rather go anywhere than stay
here."

"We'd better step carefully, in case the floor is as rotten as it was in
the other place," cautioned Lindsay. The passage smelled dank and close.
The air in it had probably been unstirred for many years. The faint
light which entered it from the treasure room was soon lost, and they
were obliged to grope their way by feeling along the walls. On and on
they went for what appeared to be a considerable distance, sometimes
turning sharp corners, and sometimes going up or down rickety steps.

"It must run half round the house," said Cicely. "Shall we never get to
the end?"

Suddenly Lindsay, who was walking first, came to a halt.

"I can't go any farther," she faltered; "there's a wall in front."

The poor girls were almost in desp