"I believe it will work," he said.
"Listen!
We'll wait here in patience till the men come back.
What will they do?
They'll drag away those stones at the top of the dungeon entrance, and go down the steps.
They'll go to the store-room, where they left us— thinking we are still there, and they will go into the room.
Well, what about one of us being hidden down there ready to bolt them into the room?
Then we can either go off in their motor-boat or our own boat if they bring back our oars— and get help."
Anne thought it was a marvellous idea. But Dick and George did not look so certain.
"We'd have to go down and bolt that door again to make it seem as if we are still prisoners there," said George.
"And suppose the one who hides down there doesn't manage to bolt the men in?
It might be very difficult to do that quickly enough.
They will simply catch whoever we plan to leave down there, and come up to look for the rest of us."
"That's true," said Julian, thoughtfully.
"Well— we'll suppose that Dick, or whoever goes down, doesn't manage to bolt them in and make them prisoners— and the men come up here again.
All right— while they are down below we'll pile big stones over the entrance, just as they did.
Then they won't be able to get out."
"What about Dick down below?" said Anne, at once.
"I could climb up the well again!" said Dick, eagerly.
"I'll be the one to go down and hide. I'll do my best to bolt the men into the room. And if I have to escape I'll climb up the well-shaft again.
The men don't know about that. So even if they are not prisoners in the dungeon room, they'll be prisoners underground!"
The children talked over this plan, and decided that it was the best they could think of.
Then George said she thought it would be a good thing to have a meal.
They were all half-starved and, now that the worry and excitement of being rescued was over, they were feeling very hungry!
They fetched some food from the little room and ate it in the cove, keeping a sharp look-out for the return of the men.
After about two hours they saw a big fishing-smack appear in the distance, and heard the chug-chug-chug of a motor-boat too.
"There they are!" said Julian, in excitement, and he jumped to his feet.
"That's the ship they mean to load with the ingots, and sail away in safety— and there's the motor-boat bringing the men back!
Quick, Dick, down the well you go, and hide until you hear them in the dungeons!"
Dick shot off. Julian turned to the others.
"We'll have to hide," he said.
"Now that the tide is out we'll hide over yonder, behind those uncovered rocks.
I don't somehow think the men will do any hunting for Dick and Anne -but they might.
Come on! Quick!"
They all hid themselves behind the rocks, and heard the motor-boat come chugging into the tiny harbour.
They could hear men calling to one another.
There sounded to be more than two men this time.
Then the men left the inlet and went up the low cliff towards the ruined castle.
Julian crept behind the rocks and peeped to see what the men were doing.
He felt certain they were pulling away the slabs of stone that had been piled on top of the entrance to prevent Dick and Anne going down to rescue the others.
"George! Come on!" called Julian in a low tone.
"I think the men have gone down the steps into the dungeons now.
We must go and try to put those big stones back.
Quick!"
George, Julian and Anne ran softly and swiftly to the old courtyard of the castle.
They saw that the stones had been pulled away from the entrance to the dungeons. The men had disappeared.
They had plainly gone down the steps.
The three children did their best to tug at the heavy stones to drag them back. But their strength was not the same as that of the men, and they could not manage to get any very big stones across.
They put three smaller ones, and Julian hoped the men would find them too difficult to move from below.
"If only Dick has managed to bolt them into that room!" he said to the others.