But Andy was not equal to the task. The risky experience had, to use his own words, completely knocked the stuffing out of him.
"Let"s quit; the game"s not worth the candle," said Terence.
"Rather not!" replied Mr. McKay, resolutely. "There"s something worth securing behind that door, or the former owners would not have taken such elaborate and crafty steps to guard it. Here, Ellerton, stand by with the crowbar in case of accidents, and I"ll finish boring the hole."
So saying, Mr. McKay took up a position similar to that formerly occupied by his son and plied the brace vigorously.
Ere the bit had sunk another quarter of an inch there came a dull metallic sound from the remote side of the door.
"What"s that?" gasped Andy breathlessly.
"Another surprise for trespa.s.sers," replied his father without ceasing in his work. "I"ve released another secret spring, I suppose.
However, we are on the right side of the door this time."
Having bored the hole sufficiently deep for his purpose Mr. McKay proceeded to insert the cordite, ramming it tightly home with the end of the crowbar. The rest of the explosive he laid close to the base of the door, covering it with stones and pieces of rock brought from the floor of the chasm.
"Now let"s go back to the other tunnel," he continued, after the detonator and the fuse had been inserted and the latter fired.
"There"s no hurry; the explosion will not take place for five minutes."
As the moments sped, the lads awaited in breathless silence the sound of the detonation.
Presently a dull rumble echoed through the rocky pa.s.sage, followed by a blast of air mingled with the acrid fumes of the cordite.
"Not so fast! Not so fast!" cautioned Mr. McKay, as the lads began to run towards the hitherto baffling barrier. "Some of the rock may be dislodged."
As it was, they were obliged to wait some considerable time, as the atmosphere in the tunnel was so vile that it was impossible to breathe with comfort. Then as the mist gradually cleared, the dull yellow glare of the lanterns revealed a ma.s.s of shattered woodwork where the door had stood; while a foot beyond was a barrier of steel rods, which, serving the purpose of a portcullis, had fallen from above.
"That"s what we heard fall," observed Mr. McKay. "The idea was, I suppose, that any unauthorised person who escaped the lance-thrust on this side of the door would, on opening it, be impaled by the weapons concealed in the roof. Now to settle with this obstruction."
A few powerful strokes with an axe shattered enough bars to enable Mr.
McKay to squeeze through, and, followed by his eager companions, he entered the mysterious cavern.
At first there was little to attract the attention of the explorers.
The cave was of irregular form, being about fifty feet in length, thirty in breadth, and varying in height from twenty-five to six feet.
On the floor were six wooden chests, ordinary in appearance and apparently of simple construction; they would have easily been mistaken for seamen"s chests placed in a lumber-room.
Striding up to the nearest one, Mr. McKay raised the lid. There was no creaking of rusty hinges, no glitter of gold and jewels to dazzle the eyes. The chest was empty!
"Well, this is a sorry trick to have played on one another after so much trouble," commented he with a forced laugh. He was visibly disappointed, and his discouragement was shared by his companions.
"No doubt this has been the hiding-place of some great h.o.a.rd," he continued. "But the buccaneering rascals have evidently removed their booty. I"ve drawn a blank, so you, Ellerton, try your hand."
The second chest was opened with equal ease, but to the unbounded delight of the whole party the coffer was two-thirds filled with yellow metal ingots, which flashed dully in the light of the lanterns.
"Gold!" was the chorus of exclamation.
"Gold it is," added Mr. McKay. "But a deal of good it will do us in our present state! However, let"s continue the examination."
The remaining four coffers gave more trouble, the lids being secured by stout iron screws. Two were filled with gold and silver ornaments, cups, vases, and plates--the plunder, doubtless, of many a rich city of Spain"s colonies on the sh.o.r.es of the Pacific. The remaining two were laden with virgin gold.
"Well, lads," exclaimed Mr. McKay, when the last coffer had been forced to disclose its contents, "once we get this stuff safely to a civilised country we shall be rich beyond our wildest imagination. We"ll share and share alike, of course."
"What is the value of the treasure?" asked Ellerton in an awestruck voice, for the sudden avalanche of untold wealth had wellnigh upset him.
"Goodness only knows! There"s enough to enable you to go through life without doing another stroke of work. That is, of course, when you are home in England once more. But, my lad, don"t look upon it in that light. Take my word for it that idleness is a curse, and the wealth, if used solely to promote idleness, would serve a better purpose if it lay a thousand fathoms deep on the bed of the ocean."
"If ever I take my share back to my home, I trust I"ll use it to a good purpose," said Ellerton.
"I trust so, too," added Mr. McKay. "Now, let us see if there"s anything else of interest here. I am anxious to examine these murderous devices. Ah!"
Mr. McKay pointed in the direction of the shattered door. On either side, but separated from the entrance tunnel by a ma.s.sive wall composed of the solid rock, was a narrow and lofty pa.s.sage, both running parallel with the tunnel.
Lantern in hand, Mr. McKay stooped down and entered the right-hand recess, and to his surprise he found no fewer than six steel lances, each accompanied by a tightly coiled spring, while a seventh had uncoiled itself, the spiral spring stretching from wall to wall.
"Great heavens!" he exclaimed with thankfulness. "We"ve had a fortunate escape. Each of these fiendish contrivances is set to launch itself into the tunnel on the outside of the door. The one we released is the nearest."
"Then we must have pa.s.sed them?" asked Andy.
"Yes, and by the intervention of Providence they failed to act. Watch!"
And touching a slender steel rod that pa.s.sed from the front of one of the springs to the floor, Mr. McKay gave it a sharp upward jerk.
Instantly the hidden coil released itself, and the dread weapon disappeared through the rock which separated the cave-like recess from the tunnel.
"The whole contrivance, though deadly, is comparatively simple,"
explained Mr. McKay. "Underneath the floors of both chambers are a number of levers. The weight of a person treading in the tunnel would cause the lever to move a rod, which in turn releases a finely set trigger which controls the springs. Owing to years of idleness the levers failed to act, and only Andy"s continuous exertions as he lay on the ground in front of the door caused one of the springs to be released. I bargained for one, but not a dozen or more, by Jove!"
"A dozen?" echoed Terence.
"Aye, a dozen at least. We"ll find six or seven more on the other side of the tunnel."
One by one the remaining springs were released, and on entering the left-hand cavity a similar state of things was revealed.
"I don"t think we need fear these any longer," continued Mr. McKay, as the sound of the releasing of the last spring vibrated in the confined s.p.a.ce. "Now the question is, what is to be done with the stuff?" and he indicated the coffers with a wave of his hand.
"Leave it here," suggested Andy.
"I would but for one reason. If we are taken off the island by a pa.s.sing ship, the captain would not feel inclined to waste time while we were bringing these chests from here to the sh.o.r.e, for, of course, we could not reveal the nature of their contents. No; I propose to cart the whole of the treasure back to the house, stow it away in small boxes that are convenient to handle, and bury the boxes a few feet under the floor."
Each member of the party thereupon filled his haversack with as much gold as it would hold, until the stout canvas straps cut into the shoulders of the wearers; and thus laden they retraced their steps, arriving on the surface in a breathless and exhausted condition.
Here the loads were redistributed, and making better progress, the wearied adventurers arrived at their dwelling just as the sun dipped beyond the lofty peak of the island.
CHAPTER XXIII