There were three children: Gerald, Jimmy, and Kathleen. And they were at school in a little town in England. The boys were at one school, of course, and their sister was at another.
They used to see each other only on weekends. So they looked forward to going home for summer vacation. But one year they couldn't go home because someone in the family had the measles. That disease was easy to catch.
After many letters back and forth, their parents agreed to let them stay at Kathleen's school. All the girls had gone home. All the teachers had left except the French teacher.
Now the boys had arrived, and they were drinking tea with Kathleen.
"We need a summer project," she said. "Let's write a book."
"Too much work," said Gerald, who was the oldest. "We'll do something outdoors. A cave would be good. We could eat our meals there."
"There aren't any caves," said Jimmy, who liked to say no. "And I doubt Mademoiselle will let us go out by ourselves."
"Well, I'm going to talk to her," said Gerald.
He washed his hands and combed his hair before he knocked on Mademoiselle's door. She was reading.
"Excuse me, Mademoiselle," said Gerald politely. "I thought I'd say hello because you're in charge of us."
Mademoiselle was charmed by the young man's manners. "Can I do anything for you?"
"No, thank you. We don't want to be any trouble. In fact, we would cause less trouble tomorrow if we spent all day outside."
Mademoiselle smiled. "I know what you really want. You want to be left alone."
Gerald laughed and Mademoiselle did too.
"Go ahead," she said. "I won't stand in your way."
The next morning the children went off on their adventure. It was a beautiful day.
"We're sure to find something," said Gerald. "A boy at school said that there was a cave near here. But he said there's an enchanted castle too. So none of that may be true."
The children walked along the road, which was very hot. They decided to share a drink from their lunch.
Soon they came to a fork in the road. They went right and came to another fork and then another.
"We're completely lost," said Kathleen. "What fun!"
Now the trees arched overhead and bushes lined the banks along the road.
"Let's have some lunch," said Jimmy.
As they sat down, Gerald leaned against some bushes. "Oh my!" he cried.
The bushes gave way and he almost fell backward. The other two pulled back the bushes. There was a large hole in the bank.
"It's a cave!" said Gerald. "I'm going in."
"Oh, don't!" said Kathleen. "There might be snakes."
But Gerald was already crawling through the hole.
"It is a cave! Come look!"
Kathleen and Jimmy followed him down the hole. They walked a short distance and came out into the sunshine.
"How wonderful!" said Kathleen. Ahead of them was a tall arch framed with ferns and grasses.
"It looks like a train tunnel," said Jimmy.
"It's the entrance to the enchanted castle," said Kathleen.
"Oh, don't be silly." Gerald led the way to the arch.
"There's a set of steps!" said Jimmy.
They followed Gerald down the steps, walking slowly through the darkness. Up ahead was a patch of daylight. The children passed under another arch and out onto a terrace. Below them was a lake with an island. Beyond that, marble statues gleamed among the trees. White towers stood out against the sky.
"It's the enchanted castle!" cried Kathleen.