Access from the roadway was by a rough wooden gate in the hedge.

To the surprise of Agatha, who had last seen this gate off its hinges and only attached to the post by a rusty chain and padlock, it was now rehung and fastened by a new hasp.

The weather admitting of no delay to consider these repairs, she opened the gate and hastened up the slope, followed by the troop of girls.

Their ascent ended with a rush, for the rain suddenly came down in torrents.
When they were safe under the veranda, panting, laughing, grumbling, or congratulating themselves on having been so close to a place of shelter, Miss Wilson observed, with some uneasiness, a spade--new, like the hasp of the gate--sticking upright in a patch of ground that someone had evidently been digging lately.

She was about to comment on this sign of habitation, when the door of the chalet was flung open, and Jane screamed as a man darted out to the spade, which he was about to carry in out of the wet, when he perceived the company under the veranda, and stood still in amazement.