Chapter 20 THE ADVENTURE BOILS UP
　　George looked as if she had seen a ghost. 'Jo!' she whispered. 'It can't really be you.'
　　'It is. Feel,' said Jo, and pattered across the room to give George quite a hard pinch. Then she pulledat her arm.
　　'Come on,' she said. 'We must go before Red comes. Hurry! I don't want to be caught.'
　　George got up as if she was in a dream. She went across to the door. She and Jo slipped out, andstood at the top of the spiral staircase.
　　'Have to go down here, I suppose,' said Jo. She cocked her head and listened. Then she went down afew steps and turned the first spiral bend.
　　But before she had gone down more than a dozen steps she stopped in fright. Somebody was comingup!
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　　In panic Jo ran up again and pushed George roughly into the room she had climbed into first of all.
　　'Someone's coming,' she panted. 'Now we're finished.'
　　'It's that red-haired man, I expect,' said George. 'He comes up three or four times a day and tries tomake me tell him about my father's work. But I don't know a thing. What are we to do?'
　　The slow steps came up and up, sounding hollowly on the stone stairs. They could hear a pantingbreath now, too.
　　An idea came to Jo. She put her mouth close to George's ear. 'Listen! We look awfully¹ alike. I'll letmyself be caught and locked up in that room - and you take the chance to slip down and go to Dickand Julian. Red will never know I'm not you - we've even got the same clothes on now, because Joangave me old ones of yours.'
　　'No,' said George, astounded². 'You'll be caught. I don't want you to do that.'
　　'You've got to,' whispered Jo, fiercely. 'Don't be daft. I can open the window and climb down the ivy,easy as winking³, when Red's gone. It's your only chance. They're going to take you off in thathelicopter tonight.'
　　The footsteps were now at the top. Jo pushed George well behind a curtain and whispered fiercelyagain: 'Anyway, I'm not really doing this for you. I'm doing it for Dick. You keep there and I'll do therest.'
　　There was a loud exclamation⁴ when the man outside discovered the door of George's room open.
　　He went in quickly and found nobody there. Out he came and yelled down the stairs.
　　'Markhoff! The door's open and the girl's gone! Who opened the door?'

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