17 Things go on happening
　　The three children watched the great stone slide into place like magic. It was an extraordinarysight. But Philip suddenly felt worried.
　　‘Dinah! Let me have that spike¹. Move away. I hope to goodness it will move the stone backagain!’
　　The boy pulled at it, but it remained fixed². He tried to move it the other way. He jerked it. Itwould not move at all.
　　‘It closes the hole in the floor, but it doesn’t open it,’ he said. He looked round for another spikeor lever or handle – anything that he thought might open the hole to allow them to get out – but hecould see nothing.
　　‘There must be something!’ he said, ‘or the man that hides here wouldn’t be able to come out atnight. There must be something!’
　　The two girls were scared. They didn’t like being shut up like this in an underground room.
　　Lucy-Ann felt as if all the suits of armour³ were watching her and enjoying her fright. She didn’tlike them.
　　‘Well, Philip, Jack⁴ will be along soon,’ said Dinah, ‘and he’ll see the hole is shut and will workthe spike upstairs in the hall to open it again. We needn’t worry.’
　　‘I suppose he will,’ said Philip, looking relieved. ‘You are an idiot, Dinah, messing about withthings before you know what they do.’
　　‘Well, you’d have done the same thing yourself,’ retorted Dinah.
　　‘All right, all right,’ said Philip. He began to look all round the peculiar⁵ room. The suits ofarmour interested him. He wished he could put one on, just for fun!
　　An idea came to him. ‘I say, I’ll play a trick on Jack!’ he said. ‘I’ll get inside one of these suitsof armour, and hide. Then when Jack opens the hole and comes down don’t you tell him where Iam – and I’ll suddenly step off one of these pedestals the armour is on, with a frightful⁶ clangingnoise, and scare him stiff!’

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