Down we plunged into the cellar, through the trap

and to the Door of Bewilderment.

"Don't expect too much," admonished Larry; "I

can't promise you a single Spanish coin."

"Perish the ambition! We have blocked Pickering's

game, and nothing else matters," I said.

We crawled through the hole in the wall and lighted

candles. The room was about seven feet square. At

the farther end was an oblong wooden door, close to the

ceiling, and Larry tugged at the fastening until it came

Advertisement..

down, bringing with it a mass of snow and leaves.

"Gentlemen," he said, "we are at the edge of the

ravine. Do you see the blue sky? And yonder, if you

will twist your necks a bit, is the boat-house."

"Well, let the scenic effects go and show us where

you found those papers," I urged.

"Speaking of mysteries, that is where I throw up my

hands, lads. It's quickly told. Here is a table, and here

is a tin despatch box, which lies just where I found it.

It was closed and the key was in the lock. I took out

that packet-it wasn't even sealed-saw the character

of the contents, and couldn't resist the temptation to

try the effect of an announcement of its discovery on

your friend Pickering. Now that is nearly all. I found

this piece of paper under the tape with which the envelope

was tied, and I don't hesitate to say that when

I read it I laughed until I thought I should shake

down the cellar. Read it, John Glenarm!"

He handed me a sheet of legal-cap paper on which

was written these words: HE LAUGHS BEST WHO LAUGHS LAST "What do you think is so funny in this?" I demanded.

"Who wrote it, do you think?" asked Stoddard.

"Who wrote it, do you ask? Why, your grandfather

wrote it! John Marshall Glenarm, the cleverest, grandest

old man that ever lived, wrote it!" declaimed Larry,

his voice booming loudly in the room. "It's all a great

big game, fixed up to try you and Pickering,-but principally

you, you blockhead! Oh, it's grand, perfectly,

deliciously grand,-and to think it should be my good

luck to share in it!"

"Humph! I'm glad you're amused, but it doesn't

strike me as being so awfully funny. Suppose those

papers had fallen into Pickering's hands; then where

would the joke have been, I should like to know!"

"On you, my lad, to be sure! The old gentleman

wanted you to study architecture; he wanted you to

study his house; he even left a little pointer in an old

book! Oh, it's too good to be true!"

"That's all clear enough," observed Stoddard, knocking

upon the despatch box with his knuckles. "But why

do you suppose he dug this hole here with its outlet on

the ravine?"

"Oh, it was the way of him!" explained Larry. "He

liked the idea of queer corners and underground passages.

This is a bully hiding-place for man or treasure,

and that outlet into the ravine makes it possible to get

out of the house with nobody the wiser. It's in keeping

with the rest of his scheme. Be gay, comrades! To-morrow

will likely find us with plenty of business on

our hands. At present we hold the fort, and let us have

a care lest we lose it."




Most Popular