Page:Last Cruise of the Spitfire.djvu/121

Rh "Here is one, and a wooden mallet, too." He brought the articles forward. "Be careful how you make a noise."

"I will," was my reply. "But I haven't any light."

"Here's a bit of candle. Be careful and don't set anything afire."

Dibble handed the candle to me, and then closed the trap.

By the feeble rays of the light I crawled backward for quite a distance. Finally I came to a large packing-case marked:

"S. & Co. Crockery. B132. Handle with Care."

The top lid of the case was well nailed on. But after a quarter of an hour's work I succeeded in loosening one half of it, and pulled it off.

There was a quantity of straw next to the lid. I scraped it aside, and then took a look at what was below. The packing-case was filled with nothing but common stones.

I had expected something of the kind, so I was not greatly astonished when I beheld the bogus crockery that filled the packing-case. I picked up several of the stones to make sure that I was not