Chapter Fifteen. DICK TO THE RESCUE!
DICK caught hold of Anne's hand and pulled her quickly away from the cove. He was afraid that whoever had come to the island might be somewhere about and see them. The boy took Anne to the little stone room where their things were and they sat down in a corner.
"Whoever has come has discovered Julian and George smashing in that door, I should think," said Dick, in a whisper. "I simply can't think what to do. We mustn't go down into the dungeons or we'll most certainly be caught. Hallo- where's Tim off to?"
The dog had kept with them for a while but now he ran off to the entrance of the dungeons. He disappeared down the steps. He meant to get back to George, for he knew she was in danger. Dick and Anne stared after him. They had felt comforted while he was there, and now they were sorry he had gone.
They really didn't know what to do. Then Anne had an idea. "I know!" she said, "we'll row back to the land in our boat and get help."
"I'd thought of that," said Dick, gloomily. "But you know perfectly well we'd never know the way in and out of those awful rocks. We'd wreck the boat. I'm sure we're not strong enough either to row all the way back. Oh, dear- I do wish we could think what to do."
They didn't need to puzzle their brains long. The men came up out of the dungeons and began to hunt for the two children! They had seen Tim when he came back and had found the note gone. So they knew the two children had taken it- and they couldn't imagine why they had not obeyed what George had said in the note, and come down to the dungeons!
Dick heard their voices. He clutched hold of Anne to make her keep quiet. He saw through the broken archway that the men were going in the opposite direction.
"Anne! I know where we can hide!" said the boy, excitedly. "Down the old well! We can climb down the ladder a little way and hide there. I'm sure no one would ever look there!"
Anne didn't at all want to climb down the well even a little way. But Dick pulled her to her feet and hurried her off to the middle of the old courtyard. The men were hunting around the other side of the castle. There was just time to climb in. Dick slipped aside the old wooden cover of the well and helped Anne down the ladder. She was very scared. Then the boy climbed down himself and slipped the wooden cover back again over his head, as best he could.
The old stone slab that Tim had sat on when he fell down the well was still there. Dick climbed down to it and tested it. It was immovable.
"It's safe for you to sit on, Anne, if you don't want to keep clinging to the ladder," he whispered. So Anne sat shivering on the stone slab across the well-shaft, waiting to see if they were discovered or not. They kept hearing the voices of the men, now near at hand and now far-off. Then the men began to shout for them.
"Dick! Anne! The others want you! Where are you? We've exciting news for you."
"Well, why don't they let Julian and George come up and tell us then?" whispered Dick. "There's something wrong, I know there is. I do wish we could get to Julian and George and find out what has happened."
The two men came into the courtyard. They were angry. "Where have those kids got to?" said Jake. "Their boat is still in the cove, so they haven't got away. They must be hiding somewhere. We can't wait all day for them."
"Well, let's take some food and drink down to the two we've locked up," said the other man. "There's plenty in that little stone room. I suppose it's a store the children brought over. We'll leave half in the room so that the other two kids can have it. And we'll take their boat with us so that they can't escape."
"Right," said Jake. "The thing to do is to get the gold away as quickly as possible, and make sure the children are prisoners here until we've made a safe getaway. We won't bother any more about trying to buy the island. After all, it was only the idea of getting the ingots that put us up to the idea of getting Kirrin Castle and the island."
"Well-come on," said his companion. "We will take the food down now, and not bother about the other kids. You stay here and see if you can spot them while I go down."
Dick and Anne hardly dared to breathe when they heard all this. How they hoped that the men wouldn't think of looking down the well! They heard one man walk to the little stone room. It was plain that he was getting food and drink to take down to the two prisoners in the dungeons below. The other man stayed in the courtyard, whistling softly.
After what seemed a very long time to the hidden children, the first man came back. Then the two talked together, and at last went off to the cove. Dick heard the motor-boat being started up.
"It's safe to get out now, Anne," he said. "Isn't it cold down here? I'll be glad to get out into the sunshine."
They climbed out and stood warming themselves in the hot summer sunshine. They could see the motor-boat streaking towards the mainland.
"Well, they're gone for the moment," said Dick. "And they've not taken our boat, as they said. If only we could rescue Julian and George, we could get help, because George could row us back."
"Why can't we rescue them?" cried Anne, her eyes shining. "We can go down the steps and unbolt the door, can't we?"
"No- we can't," said Dick. "Look!"
Anne looked to where he pointed. She saw that the two men had piled big, heavy slabs of broken stone over the dungeon entrance. It had taken all their strength to put the big stones there. Neither Dick nor Anne could hope to move them.
"It's quite impossible to get down the steps," said Dick. "They've made sure we shan't do that! And you know we haven't any idea where the second entrance is. We only know it was somewhere near the tower."
"Let's see if we can find it," said Anne eagerly. They set off to the tower on the right of the castle- but it was quite clear that whatever entrance there might have been once, it was gone now! The castle had fallen in very much just there, and there were piles of old broken stones everywhere, quite impossible to move. The children soon gave up the search.
"Blow!" said Dick. "How I do hate to think of poor old Julian and George prisoners down below, and we can't even help them! Oh, Anne- can't you think of something to do?"
Anne sat down on a stone and thought hard. She was very worried. Then she brightened up a little and turned to Dick.
"Dick! I suppose- I suppose we couldn't possibly climb down the well, could we?" she asked. "You know it goes past the dungeons- and there's an opening on the dungeon floor from the well-shaft, because don't you remember we were able to put in our heads and shoulders and look right up the well to the top? Could we get past that slab, do you think- the one that I sat on just now, that has fallen across the well?"
Dick thought it all over. He went to the well and peered down it. "You know, I believe you are right, Anne," he said at last. "We might be able to squeeze past that slab. There's just about room. I don't know how far the iron ladder goes down though."
"Oh, Dick- do let's try," said Anne. "It's our only chance of rescuing the others!"
"Well," said Dick, 'I'll try it- but not you, Anne. I'm not going to have you falling down that well. The ladder might be broken half-way down- anything might happen. You must stay up here and I'll see what I can do."
"You will be careful, won't you?" said Anne, anxiously. "Take a rope with you, Dick, so that if you need one you won't have to climb all the way up again."
"Good idea," said Dick. He went to the little stone room and got one of the ropes they had put there. He wound it round and round his waist. Then he went back to Anne.