Shall we try ?" "Right-o! I'm game if you are!" By the north porch there was a small oak door studded with nails.
Generally this was kept locked, but to-day, by a miracle of good fortune, it happened to be open.

It was, of course, a very unorthodox thing for the verger to go away and leave the Abbey unattended, even for half an hour, but vergers, after all, are only human, and enjoy a cup of tea as much as other people who do not wear black cassocks.

He was safely seated by the fireside in his ivy-colored cottage at the other side of the churchyard, so the girls seized their golden opportunity.
They went up and up and up, along a winding staircase for an interminable way.

It was dark, and the steps were worn with the tread of seven centuries, and here and there was a broken bit over which they had to clamber with care.

At last, after what seemed like mounting the Tower of Babel, they stumbled up through a narrow doorway into the most extraordinary place in the world.