ng like incredulity in the smile that
transfigured his face.

"I _could_ be a thrifty housewife, couldn't I?" she asked naively.

At that moment, a dull, heavy report, as of distant thunder, came to
their ears. The windows rattled sharply and the earth beneath them
seemed to quiver. Involuntarily she drew nearer to him, casting a glance
of alarm over her shoulder in the direction from which they had come.

"You could, if you had half a chance," he said drily, and then casually
remarked the explosion.

CHAPTER XXV

THE DISQUIETING END OF PONG

Later on, he and Deppingham visited the underground chamber, accompanied
by Mr. Britt. They found that the door to the passage had been blown
away by the terrific concussion. Otherwise, the room was, to all
appearances, undamaged, except that some of the wine casks were leaking.
The subterranean passage at this place was completely filled with earth
and stone.

Deppingham stared at the closed mouth of the passage. "They've cut off
our exit, but they've also secured us from invasion from this source. I
wonder if the beggars were clever enough to carry the plunder above the
flood line. If not, they've had their work for nothing."

"Selim says there is a cave near the mouth of the passage," said Chase.
"The tunnel comes out half way up the side of the mountain, overlooking
the sea, and the hole is very carefully screened by the thick shrubbery.
Trust Von Blitz to do the safe thing."

"I don't mind Von Blitz escaping so much, Chase," said his lordship
earnestly, "as I do the unfortunate closing of what may have been our
only way to leave the chateau in the end."

"You must think me an ungrateful fool," said Chase bitterly. He had
already stated his position clearly.

"Not at all, old chap. Don't get that into your head. I only meant that
a hole in the ground is worth two warships that won't come when we need
'em."

Chase looked up quickly. "You don't believe that I can call the
cruisers?"

"Oh, come now, Chase, I'm not a demmed native, you know."

The other grinned amiably. "Well, you just wait, as the boy says."

Deppingham put his eyeglass in more firmly and stared at his companion,
not knowing whether to take the remark as a jest or to begin to look for
signs of mental collapse. Britt laughed shortly.

"I guess we'll have to," said the stubby lawyer.

After satisfying themselves that there was no possibility of the enemy
ever being able to enter the c