CHAPTER XVIII. AT THE MOUTH OF THE TUNNEL.

 “We’re on some good old fighting ground,” remarked Henri, who was well versed¹ in history relating to the country around Chateau² Trouville. “The Roman legions held forth³ here centuries ago.”

[87]

“They would not have ‘held forth’ any great while under that German fire the other day.”

Billy was not far wrong on that proposition.

The boys were doing this talking while Reddy was lighting⁴ the lanterns. These lanterns were bull’s-eyes, and could be turned dark in an instant.

There was no shelling of this spot that night, for there was not enough of the fort left to make a target, and the trenches⁵ were attracting all the fire.

The boys could proceed with their work with some degree of safety.

Reddy painfully located the rocky point by falling over a big stone in the dark, the boys having decided⁶ to go it blind until they actually had to use the lights.

“You haven’t broken a leg, have you, Reddy?” Henri anxiously inquired.

“No, I guess not,” was Reddy’s reply, “but I think I’ve kicked a toe loose, anyhow.”

The boys switched the masks off their lanterns and three slender bars of light danced among the stones.

“Don’t see any cross.”

“Be patient, Billy,” urged Henri, “we haven’t been here five minutes yet.”

For the next hour the boys circled around the place without finding a trace of the markings described in the map.

[88]

Billy and Henri sat down to rest, but Reddy, who seemed never to tire, continued to explore on his own account. He walked over to the ruins of the fort, and began to measure, by taking long steps, on a line some distance from the point where the boys had been searching for the cross.

Suddenly Reddy stopped. Billy and Henri could see that the ball of light in his lantern had quit moving.

“Wonder if he has found anything?” Henri jumped at the prospect⁷.

“Nothing like going to see,” and Billy with the words was off like a shot.

Sure enough, Reddy had struck a warm trail. All of the cross was not under his feet, but there was sufficient outline to show sections of the original design. Some of the stones had shifted away, but there, beyond doubt, was that for which the boys were looking.

The lantern rays were all directed to the foot of the outline, that is, the end of the longest row of bowlders.

The directions had read: “Stone slab⁸ at foot of cross.”

The boys bent⁹ to their knees and with faces close to the earth.

“There’s a corner of it!”

Reddy was making all the discoveries.

Billy and Henri commenced clawing the dirt like[89] hungry chickens. Reddy stood up and used his feet to better advantage. This combined effort was rewarded by a clear view of the slab.

It was there, and Billy could not now deny it.

“Remove stone and find iron ring in oak cover.”

But how were the boys to “remove” that stone? Reddy had a lightning thought. All his thoughts came that way.

Away he went, chasing the lantern ray ahead of him. In that heap of crumpled¹⁰ earth and stone, lately Fort Les Paroches, there was surely something in the way of iron or steel out of which to make a stone lifter.

Reddy was back in a few minutes dragging not only one but two steel bars which had been knocked like nine-pins from their fastenings.

“Here’s levers for you,” he announced gleefully.

Billy saw what he had, even if he did not understand what he said.

Henri and Billy with the bar-points punched holes at the side of the slab and got a purchase. Then they pried¹¹ with all their strength. At first the slab did not budge¹² an inch.

Reddy added his weight to one of the bars and the slab was loosened in its setting.

“Now another heave!” panted Billy.

“Up she comes!” said Henri.

The slab was lifted high enough to give a chance for shoulder pressure, and the rest was easy, for[90] when once out of its setting the stone had no great weight.

The lanterns revealed the fact that the workers had been rightly directed up to the minute.

The oak cover was there, and also the iron ring. Through this ring the boys shoved the bars and pulled the cover away from the opening.

The stone steps were there; somewhat crumbly, but there. The directions were verified to the finish.

“Don’t rush in there until you give the fresh air a chance to go first.”

Reddy knew a lot of things that he had never learned from books.

But now it was Henri who was getting impatient.

“It ought not to take long for the tunnel to clear, and, what’s more, we are going to get out of sight before daylight.”

Daylight was rapidly approaching.

1 versed   

adj. 精通，熟练

参考例句：

• He is well versed in history.他精通历史。
• He versed himself in European literature. 他精通欧洲文学。

2 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

5 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 slab   

n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上

参考例句：

• This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。
• The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成，它们共同支撑着一块平板。

9 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

10 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

11 pried   

v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的过去式和过去分词 )；撬开

参考例句：

• We pried open the locked door with an iron bar. 我们用铁棍把锁着的门撬开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• So Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the Pain-killer. 因此汤姆撬开它的嘴，把止痛药灌下去。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

12 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。