the state dining-hall of the chateau was serving as the breakfast room of a french general and his numerous staff. if the uniforms worn had not indicated to what nation these soldiers belonged, the proof was surely in the fact that they jested and sang before breakfast. it takes a gay lot to be jolly before breakfast. after dinner anybody might have the notion to be merry.
how chateau trouville had escaped destruction by the big guns of the germans might be accounted for by the fact that the aforesaid big guns had been mostly employed, when not turned loose on the trenches, in silencing french barrier forts. as a german battery lieutenant remarked, “only forts really counted.”
however it was, this fine french country house had not even been scratched, as yet.
the chatter in the dining-hall was all greek to billy, though henri and reddy appeared to be much interested and amused by the lively conversation.
reddy pointed out here and there a chasseur that he knew by name.
“what’s the matter with us having a little[96] breakfast ourselves?” suggested henri. there was plenty to eat in the knapsacks.
billy and reddy had no protest to make on this proposition, but they found it thirsty work to swallow camp rations without even a sup of liquid.
it so happened that a foot soldier serving as waiter passed close to the wall, carrying a flagon filled with water. at the moment everybody in the hall stood up in attitude of salute. the general was just coming in to breakfast. the soldier set the flagon down near the panel; henri pressed the knob, making the opening wide enough for reddy to poke an arm through, and quick as a flash that expert young gentleman yanked the prize through the crack, which was instantly closed by henri.
the boys could not see what the soldier did when he discovered his loss, but they imagined that he must have been considerably surprised by the mysterious disappearance of the flagon.
the boys had not had a wink of sleep for more than twenty-four hours, and with all their walking and the heavy work they had done at “point of rocks” they were completely fagged.
“oh, for a good soft place on which to stretch, and some air that is decent to breathe,” murmured billy with nodding head.
“the surest thing i know,” was henri’s encouraging[97] words to the sleepy-head. “come on, fellows.”
further up the passage henri pressed another knob in the wall, and the opening immediately created let in a veritable blaze of sunlight.
it was a small, narrow room on the other side of this panel, but spangled with mullioned or barred windows.
off this room was another apartment, longer but no wider than the first. in this latter chamber stood a gilded bedstead under canopy.
“here,” said henri, “royalty was once upon a time concealed, when it was good for his princely health to be hidden.”
billy was more intent on the project of testing the bed than listening to legends. he mussed up the rich covering to his liking and rolled like a log, clothes and all, into the broad expanse under the canopy. henri and reddy with no more ceremony followed suit, and the three went after the record of the famous seven sleepers.
it was early afternoon when a tremendous clatter of iron-shod hoofs in the stone courtyard far below roused reddy, who always slept with one ear open.
with no effort to select a favorite, reddy applied spanks right and left to his snoring companions.
“who hit me?” demanded billy in a dream voice.
[98]
“where’s the trouble?” henri was probing the covers in his haste to reach the inside works of an imaginary a?roplane motor.
reddy dragged henri out of bed by the heels, and in watching the wrestling match that followed billy lost the desire to turn over for just one more nap.
“you fellows will insult the memory of his royal nibs if you don’t quit,” he growled.
“there’s evidently something doing below.”
henri had shaken off the wiry reddy and climbed upon one of the window ledges.
it was a cavalry movement, evidently, from the noise, and movement that indicated hurry orders.
“perhaps the general won’t be back for dinner.”
the good sleep had put billy back in his usual good humor.
“i don’t know what’s up,” admitted henri, “but whatever it is i’m thinking that it’s time for us to get into action before the fighters go to pulling ears in this vicinity.”
“in other words,” said billy, “it’s time for us to pull up the treasure and pull out.”
“that’s the ticket.”
henri adjusted his knapsack, setting example for his comrades to get in marching order.
passing out of the royal bed-chamber, the boys hastened again into the main passageway, going[99] further north than they had yet been in their flittings through the concealed walks.
henri finally stopped over a big brass plate set in the floor.
“it is not like moving that slab last night,” he commented, as the plate dropped with a snap on easy hinges by some combination which henri well knew how to work.
a spiral staircase was revealed, and round and round and ever downward the boys proceeded.
at the foot of the staircase, at the end of a short passage, the trio were confronted by what was apparently a blank wall.
henri counted to himself as he passed his hands over the face of the wall. when satisfied that his calculations were correct he called to billy to give him a lift. billy promptly furnished a pair of square shoulders, upon which henri stood, after removing his shoes.
henri tapped smartly at a selected spot, a hidden spring was released and a section of the wall fell away.
once astride of the cross-piece upon which the moving section had rested, henri lent billy a helping hand, and billy in turn gave reddy, the lightweight, a stocky leg on which to climb.
the boys then dropped down on the other side.
they were in the treasure house of the trouvilles!
