ere at the entrance of the cave by this time, and their attention
was drawn away from the gardener by Estelle's fear of the gloomy shadows
which loomed upon them as they entered. There was not much to see, and
before long they came upon masses of broken rock and stones, up which
Alan insisted on dragging Estelle, while Marjorie helped Georgie. At the
top the cave narrowed into little more than a moderate-sized passage,
but here it was so dark that progress was not easy. Estelle became
frightened, and Georgie begged for a return to daylight. But this did
not suit Alan at all.

'Stop a bit,' he said, striking a match. 'You sit here, you two, while
Marjorie and I light up.'

He brought a piece of magnesium wire out of his pocket, and for a few
moments the dazzling flame lighted up the cave till every corner stood
out clear. Georgie was delighted, and Estelle wished it could always
remain alight. Marjorie laughed at the remark, but the laugh died away
in her throat the next moment; as the second bit of wire was flaming she
distinctly saw a man's figure disappear behind a rock. A sudden terror
seized upon her, making her feel she could not remain a moment longer in
the cave. She had not seen enough to be certain whether it was Thomas or
not, and the uncertainty startled her.

'We've been here long enough, Alan,' she said, hurriedly.

'Do try and give us some light while I get Georgie down the slope. Can
you manage for yourself, Estelle?'

'What's the matter?' whispered Alan, as they reached the entrance to the
cave once more. 'You know I have been round every bit of those rocks at
the end of the cave,' he went on, after hearing all that Marjorie had to
tell him, 'and not an opening did I find. I am sure Father had every
passage closed, and unless Thomas has discovered where they were, and
reopened them, what you saw must have been fancy. What could Thomas want
here? There is no smuggling now.'

Meantime, Estelle and Georgie, glad to get once more into the daylight,
were racing each other over the sands and into the numerous clefts in
the cliffs, with shouts of laughter. Suddenly Estelle stopped, panting.

'It tires me so to run,' she said, with a little laugh of shame at her
weakness. 'Shall we get the spades out of the boat and dig instead?'

Georgie readily agreed, and saying he would fetch them, set off down the
slope. Estelle threw herself down on the soft sand, intending to rest
till Georgie returned. All was ve