deep breath, dug his sweep into the water, and sculled
rather more than half a circle. This brought him opposite the mouth of
the tunnel, but well out from the wall.

'That's wheer they'd slipped in,' reflected Chippy. 'Theer's the light
again. Wot does it all mean? I never heerd o' that hole afore.'

Chippy was puzzled because he did not know the history of Elliotts'
warehouse. It was a fairly old building, having been erected about the
middle of the eighteenth century. Its basement had been pierced by a
water-gate, which gave small barges direct entrance to the building,
their contents being raised to the floor above through a large
trap-door. But in the course of time, and under the influence of great
floods, the river scoured out its bed in such fashion as to alter its
depth against the wall of the warehouse, and largely to block the
water-gate with mud. Sooner than undertake the expense of dredging in
order to keep the water-gate open, the owners abandoned its use, and
knocked a doorway in the front, and hauled up from the barges as they
lay outside.

But on a very low tide it was possible yet to pole a small boat up the
old water-gate, and gain the trap-door, which still existed, though
unused, and almost unknown to the present generation of workers in the
warehouse.

It took the scout a very short time to make up his mind. He was soon
sculling for the mouth of the archway, which, now he knew where to look
for it, could be made out as a darker patch in the dusk of the wall.
With the utmost care Chippy laid the blunt nose of his craft square in
the middle of the archway, and sculled very gently up. The air was
thick and close and damp, but a slight current set towards him. He
felt it blowing on his face, and knew that there was some opening at
the top of this strange passage. He only went a short distance up,
then checked his way, and his boat floated quite still on the quiet
water of this hidden entrance.

Ten minutes passed, and then Chippy heard a voice. 'That's as much as
we can shift to-night,' it said; and a second voice said: 'All right;
drop a glim on the boat.'

At the next moment a strong shaft of light darted downwards into the
darkness, and lighted up an empty boat floating within five yards of
Chippy. Luckily for the latter, the light came from a dark lantern,
whose slide had been turned, and was only a brilliant circle which did
not discover the daring scout.

Chippy held his b