EXPLORING THE SECRET PASSAGE
"I CERTAINLY do adore this room!" exclaimed Mollie Thurston, with
glowing eyes.
The "Automobile Girls" and Olive were sitting in the dining room of old
Treasureholme. It was a massive, but cheerful room, the ceiling studded
with great beams. A fireplace constructed of boulders of varying shapes
and sizes, large enough to take a six-foot log, occupied the greater
part of one side of the room. Olive Presby had been telling her guests
various anecdotes relating to Treasureholme and as usual the
conversation had turned to the tale of the long-lost treasure.
An old-fashioned bookcase, extending all the way across one end of the
room, was filled with leather-bound books. Bab regarded them longingly.
She made up her mind to browse among these old volumes at the first
opportunity.
"Help yourself any time you wish," smiled Olive, who had observed Bab's
eager glances at the bookcase. Barbara blushed that her thoughts should
have been read so easily.
"Oh, I should love to!" she answered simply.
Mollie cast an apprehensive glance about her.
"Are you sure there are no ghosts in this old place?" she asked.
"Of course not. What made you think of that?" laughed Ruth.
"In all the stories I ever read about buried treasure there was sure to
be a ghost to guard it," replied Mollie. "Perhaps Treasureholme has a
ghost, too. At any rate, I feel spooky."
"So do I," agreed Grace. "Did you hear that noise?"
"It sounds to me like rats or mice," ventured Barbara. "Of course it is.
I know the sound. I hope they don't come out while I am here."
A hush fell over the little party of "Automobile Girls." A gentle
scratching that seemed to come from the left side of the fireplace was
audible to each of them. As they listened the sound seemed to magnify. A
draft through the open door that led into the hallway smote Mollie in
the back of the neck. She sprang up, uttering a little cry.
"It's a ghost. I felt it blow on my neck," she cried.
"Nonsense! I'll soon show you the ghost," offered Ruth, starting to her
feet. "I know this old place pretty well. May I, Olive?"
Olive nodded smilingly. Ruth stepped to the left side of the fireplace
and, grasping a knob that had escaped the observation of the
Kingsbridge girls, deliberately pulled out a panel that was in reality a
door.
The girls uttered exclamations of amazement. Then they saw something
move in the dark recess the door had revealed. It was Tom, sitting in
the hole in the wall, with his feet curled up under him. He was grinning
sardonically.
"Here's your ghost," announced Ruth, taking firm hold of the
irrepressible Tom's collar and assisting him out into the room. "You
ought to be ashamed of yourself, Thomas Presby, frightening young women
in that fashion."
"Yes, Tom, I am ashamed of you," rebuked Olive. But Tom was perfectly
cheerful and unabashed.
"A secret passage?" gasped Mollie.
"It's a sort of underground passage, built to look like an old-fashioned
Dutch oven," explained Olive.
"Per--perhaps the treasure is buried there," suggested Bab scarcely
above a whisper.
Tom laughed derisively. Olive smiled tolerantly.
"If it ever was hidden there, it was taken out long, long ago. That
passage has been known for some generations, I believe," said Olive.
"How ever did you get in there?" demanded Ruth, a sudden thought
occurring to her.
"Find out," grinned Tom.
"There must be another entrance to it, isn't there, Olive?"
"Not that I know of. Is there, Tom?"
"Maybe and maybe not."
"Oh, please tell us. Can't you see we are burning with curiosity?"
begged Bab.
"I'll show the place to any girl who's got the sand to go in there with
me," answered Tom Presby.
All the girls, except Barbara, drew back. She was regarding the boy
questioningly.
"Will you show me?" she asked.
"You bet I will if you've got the nerve."
"Don't trust him," warned the girls.
"I am not afraid of one small boy, especially Tom," answered Bab, with a
twinkle in her eyes. "But, Master Tom, if you try to play any tricks on
me it will be a sorry day for you. You can't play tricks on the
'Automobile Girls' without getting into trouble, remember. Olive, may I
go?"
"Of course, if you wish," smiled Miss Presby. "I have been in there ever
so many times, and"--with a blush--"I have dug and dug in there."
The girls laughed merrily, all save Bab, who was thoughtful. The
impression was strong with her that somehow this passage was connected
directly or indirectly with the secret of the lost treasure.
"Take a light with you. I won't go in in the dark," declared Barbara.
Tom produced a candle and lighted it. Barbara crawled into the dark hole
after him. The others crowded about, peering in wonderingly.
"Close the door," commanded Tom.
Barbara pretended to do so, but left a crack through which the light
from the dining room filtered faintly.
"Don't you girls dare to fasten the door," she called. "I should die of
fright if I thought I was locked in this hole."
"We'll come in by way of the front door," called back Tom, as he began
burrowing into the hole. The place was inky black save for the faint
light shed by the candle. "Don't be afraid. After we get out from under
the house you will be able to stand up."
"Oh! Is the passage so long as that?" gasped Bab. "I--I guess I don't
want to go any further. I'll explore with you to-morrow."
"It won't be any lighter in the daytime," reminded the boy. "It's always
dark down here." He was getting further and further away from her.
"Thomas Presby, you come right back here," commanded Barbara. "I won't
go another step."
"'Fraid cat!" jeered Thomas.
"I'm not!" retorted Bab, starting forward. She knew she could easily
find her way back again. She bumped her head against the roof of the
passage several times. The place smelled stuffy and mouldy, though the
girl realized that a faint current of air was passing through the
tunnel. All at once she discovered that the passage had grown larger.
She was able to stand up without difficulty. She then made a further
discovery. Tom and his light had disappeared.
"Tom! Oh, Tom!" cried Barbara.
There was no answer. The silence was so deep that it made her ears ring.
At first the girl was panic stricken, then she reasoned out her
situation more calmly. She had only to retrace her steps to return to
the dining room. Tom no doubt had eluded her and left the passage
through an exit known only to himself. She would show him that she was
as good as any boy.
"I'll go straight back," declared Barbara. But somehow the "going back"
was not accomplished with the ease that she had hoped for. The way
seemed much longer than had been the case when she was on her way in.
Bab was peering ahead of her, expecting every moment to catch sight of
the light from the dining room. She would have called out to her
companions, only she did not want them to know that she was in trouble
or that she was afraid.
Barbara had been in the low-ceilinged passage for some time when she
came in contact with a solid wall. She gave a glad little exclamation,
believing that she had reached the panel that led into the dining room.
She had now but to rap and her companions would open the panel. The wind
must have blown the panel shut. Barbara put out her hands and began
groping for the panel. To her horror, there was no panel there. Her
hands found nothing but earth. Some moments had elapsed when Barbara
Thurston realized that she was in a predicament.
"I am lost!" she groaned. "Oh, what shall I do?"
The girl decided to call for assistance. There seemed to be no other
way. She raised her voice and shouted, but, to her amazement, the shout
was merely a feeble call that could not have been heard many feet away.
The low walls deadened the sound of her voice.
A little investigation convinced her that she had strayed into a short
blind passage. Having made this discovery, she began creeping back,
hugging the right-hand wall of the passage, believing that the main
passage must begin on the right-hand side. In this she was correct.
Barbara had proceeded but a short distance before she found the junction
of the two passages. She had not observed this shorter passage when
following Tom, and no doubt he had known that she would be almost sure
to lose her way, just as she had done. But there was no Tom present on
whom to vent her displeasure. Neither was Barbara yet out of the tunnel.
For all she knew she might be in a wholly new passage. Before going
ahead she sat down to think over her situation carefully.
"No, I can't be mistaken. I must be right. But I ought to see the light
from the dining room from this point. However, I will go on and trust to
luck."
Barbara started on at once, though she took no chance of losing herself.
Every foot of the walls on either side was carefully groped over by her
hands as she made her way. The earth felt cold and damp. To touch it
made her shiver. But Barbara was plucky. She continued bravely on.
"Oh, there's the light," she cried. "I'll call to let them know I am
coming. No, I won't. I'll give them a scare. Lucky for me that I kept my
head. I might have been lost in that short passage and never found
again. How terrible. But an 'Automobile Girl' never gives up. I hear
voices. The girls must be wondering what has become of me. I think I
hear Tom in the dining room. I wonder what I had better do to punish him
for the trick he played on me? I shall have to think it over. I----
"Gracious! What would I do if the girls should happen to have company in
the old dining room? I shouldn't dare to come out, for I know I must
look a fright." Bab soon reached the panel, which was still as she had
left it upon entering the passage. Then as she craned her neck forward
and peered into the dining room she uttered a smothered exclamation.
Mr. and Mrs. Presby were sitting facing the fire, talking. The girl in
the passage drew back as she saw Mr. Presby's eye fixed upon the panel.
He appeared to be looking straight at her. A moment more and she was
convinced that he was not.
Bab was in a quandary. She dared not show herself. What would they think
of her, their daughter's guest, were she to be seen crawling from a hole
in the wall? Her first meeting with Mr. Presby had been unfortunate
enough. He surely would not forgive her for this exploit. Then the humor
of the situation dawned upon her. Bab stuffed her handkerchief into her
mouth so that they might not hear her giggles.
All at once she ceased laughing and sat up very straight.
"Nathan Bonner called on me at my office to-day. It was of that that I
wished to speak with you, and that is why I asked the girls to leave the
room." Mr. Presby was speaking.
"Did he wish to help you?"
"He intimated something of the sort. What he did want was permission to
call on Olive."
"Oh!" The exclamation escaped Mrs. Presby unwittingly.
"And you told him----?"
"No. Not with my permission. Bonner is a very rich man, Jane--and an
unscrupulous one I am informed. I know little more about him, except
that he has come to be an important figure on the Board of Trade. His
rise has been phenomenal. I don't care for the man, however. I do not
consider him the sort of man that Olive would like."
"You wish me to speak with her upon the subject?" asked Aunt Jane.
"No!" The word came out with explosive force. "The incident is closed. I
am not so base as to consider for a moment the idea of my daughter
making a rich alliance some day for the sake of retrieving our financial
affairs. I am simply confiding the facts to you, that you may be
governed accordingly."
Jane Presby rose, and, going over to her husband, kissed him tenderly on
the forehead.
"You are a noble man, Richard."
"Has it taken you all these years to find that out?" retorted Mr. Presby
testily.
"I have always known it," answered Mrs. Presby simply.
"What do you know about this Jack Howard's attentions to Olive?" he
demanded sharply.
"They are childhood friends. Olive is still our baby, Richard. She has
no thought of leaving us, I am sure. At least not in a long, long time."
Barbara, realizing that she was listening to a family conference, had
suddenly shrunk back further into the corridor. She still could hear
their voices. She retired further into the passage. Now their voices
reached her ears in a confused murmur. The girl crouched down, waiting.
The words of Mr. Presby had not made a very great impression on her,
except that he had objected to one Nathan Bonner calling on his
daughter. Who Nathan Bonner was Bab did not know.
Words, clear and distinct, spoken by Richard Presby, now reached Barbara
plainly. He was speaking of another matter, one that was near to the
heart of the "Automobile Girl" crouching there in the secret passage of
the old mansion. Barbara's face blanched as she heard and understood
what Mr. Presby was saying. She was powerless to shut her ears to the
words. Mr. Presby's further remarks were brief. He rose and stamped from
the room, followed a few seconds later by his wife.
Barbara crept forward to the panel, peered out cautiously to make sure
that there was no one there, then, throwing wide the panel, stepped into
the dining room, and, gathering her skirts about her, fled to her room
on the next floor. She could hear the girls laughing and talking in
Olive Presby's room.
Reaching her bedroom, Barbara Thurston threw herself on the bed, and
sobbed as though her heart would break.