"It goes down and down, probably to the bas.e.m.e.nt," he called. "Come on."
Hortense obeyed, and down and down they went. It was very dark, but now and then a little c.h.i.n.k beside the chimney let in a ray of light.
"Maybe it goes to the middle of the earth," said Andy from below. "No, here"s the bottom at last."
Soon Hortense stood behind him. Gradually, as their eyes became accustomed to the dark, they could see a little.
"Here"s the way," said Andy at last.
"But here"s another pa.s.sage," said Hortense.
"We"ll try mine first," said Andy.
They had walked only a few steps when they came to a wooden panel.
"It"s like the one that I crawled through the other day," said Andy.
"Help me to move it."
It moved slowly, but finally they raised it until they could crawl through.
"I believe this is the chute I came down when you found me," said Andy.
He stood up.
"There"s the bas.e.m.e.nt window," he said, "and here"s the little door I crawled through. Now we can get out."
"We must see where the other way goes first," Hortense reminded him.
"I"d forgotten," said Andy.
Back they went to the foot of the ladder and then down the other way which grew smaller and smaller and suddenly stopped.
"Let"s go back, there"s nothing here," said Hortense.
Andy stood still, absorbed in thought.
"It can"t end in nothing," said he. "Who would dig a tunnel to nowhere?"
He felt the end of the pa.s.sage with his hands.
"It"s wood," he announced. "It must be a door. Yes, here"s a little latch."
He opened the little door and, lying on his stomach, looked down the tunnel beyond. It was neatly fashioned and quite light but curved away in the distance so that the end was not visible--only a shining bit of the wall.
Hortense spoke the thought of both.
"If we were only small enough to go down it and see where it leads,"
said she.
But alas, it was far too small for that.
"Probably Jeremiah goes through it," said Hortense. "Where do you suppose it goes?"
"Perhaps to the middle of the earth, or to a cave filled with diamonds and gold," said Andy.
"Or maybe to the home of the fairies."
"Well, we can"t know, so there"s no use thinking of it."
"Still, if we watched it sometimes, we might see who goes down it,"
Hortense suggested hopefully, "and if it were a fairy, we might talk with him."
"We might do that," Andy agreed.
"But probably they"d know we were watching and keep hid."
They returned the way they had come, crawled through the wooden box.
Into the bas.e.m.e.nt, and went to the head of the cellar stairs.
"I"ll see if Aunt Esmerelda is asleep," said Hortense. "If she is, we"ll tiptoe across the kitchen, get some cookies, and eat them in the barn."
She opened the door cautiously and peeped in. Sure enough, Aunt Esmerelda was asleep in her chair with her ap.r.o.n thrown over her head.
Hortense motioned to Andy and they crept quietly across the kitchen to the door, Hortense pausing a moment "on the way to fill her pockets with cookies.
They ran unseen to the barn and climbed to the haymow where they ate the cookies. Hortense was deep in thought all the time.
"To-night," she announced at last, "we"ll hide in the little room we found. You can come in by the bas.e.m.e.nt window and climb up the ladder.
I"ll go up by way of the attic. Whom shall I bring?"
"Alligator would be too big," said Andy. "Besides, he"s likely to swallow things, he has such a terrible appet.i.te."
"And Lowboy is so fat he might get stuck going down the chimney."
"Coal and Ember are always likely to growl and give us away."
"That leaves only Owl, Highboy, and Malay Kris," said Andy.
"Owl"s eyes shine so--we"d better not have him," Hortense added.
So it was agreed that that night Hortense should bring only Highboy and Malay Kris with her.
"You won"t be afraid to climb the ladder all alone in the dark?"
Hortense asked.
"Well," said Andy, "I"ll come anyhow."
Hortense clapped her hands.