"Or her," added Seema. "But where do we go? There is no one in the temple and there is no one in the cave too."

"Let's try the Meena Bazaar. There is a secret passage..." said Arun excitedly.

Meena Bazaar was once a popular market for royal ladies, but all that remained now was just a few crumbling walls. A secret passage was connected to the market. They ran towards it.

There they found a man with his hands and feet tied up. He had a gag on his mouth and was struggling to free himself. The children removed the gag and helped him free his hands and feet.

"Hurry!" the man said. "The smugglers will be back."

They ran all the way through the secret passage. They were soon out of breath.

"Don't... stop... yet," panted the man.

"They'll be back any moment."

Soon they reached home. Their grandparents were surprised to see them.

"Now tell us who you are," Seema asked the man.

"And who tied you up," added Arun.

"And why," continued Seema.

"I'll tell you the whole story... but first call the police," said the man.

The police arrived in no time. The man they had freed was a police officer in plain clothes. He was following a gang of smugglers who had caught him and tied him up. Before that, he had managed to write HELP on a piece of paper and had thrown it, hoping that someone would find it.

"They were going to kill me, but thanks to you. I'm safe. We will now go and catch the smugglers," said the man.

"What an adventure! Wait till I tell my friends about it," said Seema.

"They'll never believe us!" said Arun.

"That's enough, children. It is time for lunch!" said Granny.

ruins (n):collapsed and decayed buildings

explore (v):to search or travel through

crumbling (v):breaking/cracking into pieces