| Show PC AP LAP L SW 00 faw 0 ROB R BS NeUART naff aza BY M r f SYNOPSIS miss ml lines innes spinster and guardian of 0 gertrude and halsey established sum ummer headquarter ut at iria arnald old armstrong ronk nm mas found shot hoi to death in th tho h hall I 1 U 0 oertrude e u do and her nance flance jack dalley dailey hail bad conver conversed d in the room shortly before the murler c alv IV Jam JArri lenon accused mix mitts innes of hold ink ng buck back a evidence id anee cashier daaley of armstrong i bank defunct was wa barr arrested ald for embezzlement b 1 ement pout Arins Arnn trones dea death t h ewi was z halsey laley ii titan inmee armstrong told it daliey als e y that while she bhe still mill loved hi him mashe he was wa to marry narry another h or I 1 it t dev developed elope that ur dar walker wax na t t the man bouls louiae r w waa it found 1 at the ottom bottom of the circular sta talu ur bhe kalcl something had brushed by har in t the to dark on the y anil nd she he fainted balloy la Is suspect suspected etl of of arm ann st arong mur murder thomaia Tho maii the murders derd or r wn WK found dead ad with is not note in his pocket kt bearing the name bucien Iu clen cien wallace FX A ladder found out of 0 place deepen no the mystery the stables table ii wera burned and in the dark miss finneg antie shot na an int intruder d r bialey mysteriously digap p adu hit was wa found brocko d by a fret g lit train it developed halaby hud had an or in the library with a woman bedfor his hi disappearance dla appearance new cook dis N aili I 1 III inne onneg it arned alsey wc 11 is e ir dr W waltera Wal iker hera face become livid kt at mention of the name of 0 ninia nina Lir dirring ring ton evidence was wag st secured cured from a tramp chi t a man supposedly bials halter had been bound and gagged anu and thrown into an kopty box car gertrude was wa mi ing C for or her miss innes inne ran into a ii man and fainted A confederate of 0 dr walker V r coina d his hi part in the myri my try 1 lie 1 9 stated that the barring Carrl nion lori W anan had bad been bean killed that walker feared pan her r and that he believed that paul armtrong ra had been killed by a hand kuland by walker won found in a dis dl tant hospital paul Arm armtrong Ar matron tron f was mas not dead miss iran inne disco discor r d se secret eret rooms in which th e trado trader ris hank bank treasure tre trPo aure sure wrin WB 1 lei t to b be NI mr rs we eatnon on dying said bald ar eh hn killed arnold armist oraw who years ear before had married her alt alfter r under the tha all alias of W wallace 1 luceen clen wallace was bor born n of of f chii the baar ria w u CHAPTER at the foot of the stairs stair As I 1 drove rapidly up to the house from casanova station in tho the back I 1 saw the detective hurna burns loitering across the street from the walker place so bo jimmeson Jim leson was putting tile the screws on lightly now but ready to give them a twist or two I 1 felt certain very soon the house was quiet two steps ot of the circular staircase had bad been pried ott off without result and beyond a second message from gertrude that ilal hal mey aey insisted on coming home and they would arrive that night there was nothing new I 1 mr jamieson having failed tot to locate the secret room had bad gone to the village I 1 learned afterwards that he be called at dr walkers under pretense of an attack of acute indigestion and before he left had inquired about the evening trains to the city ile he said he had bad wasted a lot of time on the case and a good bit of the mystery was in my imagination the daitor doctor was under the impression that the house was guarded day and night well give a place a reputation like that and you dont need a guard et at all thus jamieson and ure sure enough late in the afternoon the two private detectives accompanied by mr lit jamieson Jam legon walked down the main tret street of casanova and took a city bound train that they got off at the next station and nd walked back again to Sunny sunnyside sIde at dusk was not known at the time personally Pr I 1 knew nothing of either move I 1 had other things to absorb roe rne at that time liddy brought me some home tea while I 1 rested after my trip and on the tray was as a small adall book from the casanova library it was called the unseen world and had a cheerful cover on which alch a half balf dozen sheeted figures linked izands around a headstone at this point in my story always says trust a woman to add two and two tog together ther and in make ake six to which I 1 retort that it two and two plus X makes six all then to discover the unknown quantity la is the simplest thing thine in the world that a houseful of 0 detectives missed it ent entirely frely was a because they were busy trying to prove that two and two make four the depression due to my visit to the hospital left me at the prospect of seeing halsey again that night it was about five when liddy left me for or a nap before dinner having baying put me into a gray silk dressing gown own and a pair of slippers I 1 listened to her retreating footsteps and as soon oon as the she was wag safely below stairs I 1 went up to th the trun kroom the place had bad not been disturbed and I 1 proceeded proceed at once to try to discover the entrance to the hidden room the openings on either side as I 1 have said aid showed nothing but perhaps three feet of brick wall there was to BO sign of an entrance no levers no hinges hinge to give a hint either the th mantel or the root roof I 1 decided and after a halt half hour at the mantel productive of absolutely no result I 1 decided try the roof I 1 am not fond of a height the few occasions castona oc on which I 1 have climbed a stepladder step ladder have always left me dizzy and weak in tho the knees the top of tho the washington monument mon ament Is as impossible to me ma as the elevation to the presidential chair and yet 1 I climbed out on the sunnyside Sunny side roof without seconds ec onda hesitation like a dog on I a scent becent like nay my bear be skia progenitor with hla his spear and hl bis wild boar to me ma now there was tl 0 luat just of the chase the th frenzy of pur atilt the dust of battle I 1 got quite it a little of 0 the latter on mi ins as I 1 climbed from the unfinished ballroom out through it BI window to the root roof ot of the last east wing ot of the building which wi wax only two stories in height once out there mcceig t to the top of the main building was rendered easy at least it looked easy by a small Ter vertical iron ladder fastened to the wall outside of 0 the ballroom and perhaps 12 feet high the 12 feet looked short tram from below but they were difficult to ellb climb I 1 gathered nay my silk gown around me and succeeded finally in malting making the top of the ladder once there however I 1 was completely out of breath I 1 sat gat down rny my feet on tho the top rung and put my iny hair pins in moro more securely while tho the wind bellowed my dressing gown out likes like a sail I 1 had torn a preat great strip of the silk loose and now I 1 ruthlessly finished the destruction of my gown by jerking it tree free and tying it around my head luckily the root was flat and I 1 vas able to go over every inch of it but tile the result was disappointing no trapdoor revealed itself no glass window abut a couple of pipes two inches across and standing perhaps 18 inches high and three feet apart with a cap to prevent rain from entering and raised rained to permit the passage of air I 1 picked up a pebble from the root roof and dropped it down listening with roy my ear at one on of the pipes I 1 could hear bear it strike on something with a sharp metallic sound b but ut it was impossible for me to tell how bow far it had gone I 1 gave up finally and went down the ladder again retting getting in through the ballroom window without being observed I 1 went back at once to the trun kroom and sitting down on a box gave my mind as aa consistently as I 1 could to the problem before me if the pipes in the root roof were to the secret room and there was wag no trapdoor trap door above the entrance was wag probably in one of the two rooms between which it lay unless indeed the room had been built and the opening closed with a brick and mortar wall the mantel fascinated me made of wood and carved the more I 1 looked the more I 1 wondered that I 1 had not noticed before the absurdity of tuch such a mantel in uch such a place it was covered with scrolls and panels and finally by the merest accident I 1 pushed one of the panels at the side aide it moved easily revealing a small brass knob it Is not necessary to detail the fluctuations ot of hope and despair and not a little fear of what lay beyond with which I 1 twisted and turned the knob it moved but nothing seemed tow happen and then I 1 discovered the trouble I 1 pushed the knob vigorously to one side and the whole mantel swung loose from the wall almost a foot revealing ft a cavernous space apace beyond I 1 took a long breath closed the door from the trun kroom into the hall ball thank heaven I 1 did not lock it and pulling the mantel door wide open I 1 stepped into the chimney room I 1 had bud time to get a hazy view of a small portable sate safe a common wooden table and a chair then the ahe mantel door swung to and clicked behind me m I 1 stood quite still for a moment in the darkness unable to comprehend what had bad happened then I 1 turned and beat furiously at the door with my fists it was wag closed and locked again and my fingers in the darkness slid over a smooth wooden surface without a sign of a knob I 1 was furiously angry at myself at the mantel door at everything I 1 did not fear suffocation before the thought had bad come to me I 1 had already seen been a gleam of light from the two small ventilating pipes in the root roof they supplied air but nothing elte else the room itself was shrouded in blackness I 1 must have dozed off I 1 am sure I 1 did not faint I 1 WM was never more composed to in my life I 1 remember planning it if I 1 were ere not discovered who would have my things I 1 knew liddy would want my heliotrope poplin and ashes a fright in lavender once or twice I 1 heard mice in tile the partitions tit ions and so I 1 sat on the table with my any feet beet on the chair I 1 imagined I 1 could bear the search going koeng on through the house and once somo BOMO one camo came into the trun kroom I 1 could distinctly hear bear footsteps in the chimney in the chimney I 1 called with all my might and was rewarded by a piercing shriek from liddy and the slam of the trun kroom door I 1 felt easier after that alt although bough the room was oppressively hot and enervating I 1 lard no doubt the search for me would now come in the right direction and after a little I 1 dropped into a doze how long lone I 1 slept I 1 do not know it must have been several hours for I 1 had been tired from a busy day and I 1 waked stiff from my awkward position I 1 could not remember where I 1 was for a few mint ites and my head felt heavy and congested gradually dually I 1 roused to my surroundings and to the fact that in spite of ventilators rs rg the air was bad and growing worse I 1 was breathing breath lag long gasping respirations respiration and my face was wa dimp damp and clammy I 1 must lave have been there a long time and the searchers were probably hunting outside the house bouse dredging the creek or beating the woodland I 1 knew that another hour or two would find me unconscious and with my inability to cry out would go my only chance of 0 rescue it was the combination of bad air and heat beat probably for some gome anade quate ventilation was ft as coming through the pipes I 1 tried to retain nay my consciousness ness by walking the length ot of the room and back over and over but I 1 had not the strength to keep it up so I 1 sat down on the table again my back against the wall the house was very still once my straining ears seemed to catch a footfall beneath me possibly in my own room I 1 groped for the chair from the table and pounded with it frantically on the floor hut but nothing hap bap bened I 1 realized bitterly that it the sound was heard beard at all no doubt it was classed with the other rap plugs that had so alarmed us recently and then I 1 heard sounds from below me in the house there was wall a peculiar throbbing noise that I 1 felt rather than heard much like the pulsing beat or of fire engines in the city for one awful moment I 1 thought the house was on era fire and every drop of blood in my body gathered around my heart then I 1 knew it was the engine of the automobile arid and had come back hope sprang up afresh Ilai clear head and gertrudes gertrude a intuition might do what liddye hysteria and three detectives had failed in after a time I 1 thought I 1 had been right there wax was certainly something going on down below doors were slamming people were hurrying through the balls and certain high notes of excited voices penetrated to me shrilly I 1 hoped they were coming closer but after a time the sounds died away below and I 1 was left to the silence and heat beat to the weight of the darkness to the oppression of walls walla that seemed to close in on me and stifle me the first warning I 1 had was a steal stealthy thir tumbling fumbling at the lock of the mantel door with my mouth open to scream I 1 stopped perhaps the sit bation had rendered me acute per hapa baas it was instinctive whatever it was wag I 1 sat without moving and some one outside in absolute stillness ran his fingers over the carving of the gamec A py fa 1 4 no trapdoor trap trip door revealed 1 f 11 mantel mid and found the panel piti iel now the hi sounds founds below redoubled from it the clatter and jarring I 1 know that several Beveri il people were running up the st tirs anil and us as the sounds bounds av acif pro preached ached I 1 could even hear what they said cald carph the iho end staircases jamieson bh damnation theros theres no light her and then a second later all In together gether now new one two three the door into the trun kroom had bad been locked from the inside at the botond that mat it gave opening against the wall vi sith ath a crash and evidently tumbling bumb ins somebody into the room the stealthy lingers fingers beyond the mantel door gave the knob the proper impetus and the door swung opan and closed again only and liddy always ata ala ways a be screams r e a 11 i 5 and p puts 11 t 3 her fingers it n ge r a I 1 in a her ears at this point only now I 1 was not alone in the chimney room there was some gome one else in the th dark ness some one who breathed haril hard and who was VM so close I 1 could hava halve touched him with my hand band I 1 was as in a paralysis ot of terror outside there were ere excited voices and incredulous oaths the trunks were being jerked around in a frontia search the windows were thrown open only to show a sheer drop ot of 40 feet eel and tho the mm man in the tha room with me leaned against the be mantel door and listened ills pursuers were plain baffled I 1 heard him draw a long breath and turn to grope his way through the blackness then he touched my hand cold clammy deathlike A hand in an empty ile he drew in his breath the sharp of horror that fills nil lungs suddenly collapsed beyond jerking his land band away instantly he made no movement I 1 think absolute abBo luto terror had litin him by the throat then he stepped back without turning retreating foot by foot from the dread in the corner and I 1 do not think ho he breathed then with the relief relict of space apace between e tg us I 1 screamed ear car splitting ay madly and they heard me outside in the chimney I 1 shrieked ille behind the mantell mantel the mantel with an oath the figure hurled itself across the room fit at me and I 1 screamed again in his blind fury he be had bad missed |
