Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-08-05
DAILY SHORT STORY.
The Hidden Door.

o'clock in the morning. He had never
taken a business day off or lost one
through sickness.
The belief was when the shop was
found closed that the old man had
died in his bed, and about $50 O'Clock
the police came to pick the lock of the
door and effect an entrance. All doors
and windows were found securely fas-
tened, and there were no, tracks to be
found in the shop of intruders. The
officers fully expected to find the dead
body OF the old man in his bedroom,
but much to their surprise no grew
some spectacle met their gaze. AS a
matter of fact, old Burchard could not
be found about the place either living
or dead.
After a thorough search 1t was rea-
soned that he had been called away on
business and that the police had been
overofficious. One of their number
was therefore left to guard the shop
until the proprietor should return and
the excitement subsidized.
Old Burchard did not return. After
a week the case was taken up again,
and parties were found who had seen
him put up his shutters and lock his
door at Q o'clock Monday night. He
had said nothing of going away, and
he had left no message within the
shop. All the watches and clocks be-
longing to his customers were there as
also about 5000 worth of goods, and
among his papers were two notes fall
ing due on the day after his strange
disappearance. He owed no man q
dollar, and the idea that he had run
away was absurd. The city was
searched and the man advertised for,
but the week went by and no clew was
secured
One of the strange features of the
case was that no money could be
found. The old man never did bust
ness with the banks, and no one had
ever seen a safe in his shop. He han
died thousands of dollars yearly. but
where did he keep 1t? He often loaned
money on diamonds and plate, but
where he deposited them for safe
keeping no one had ever learned. I'm
less he had gone away and taken his
cash with him there ought to be
fortune hidden away in that old shop
somewhere. People to the number OF
n dozen who had raised cash on per-
sonal property came forward to say
so. but hunt as they did the searchers
could find nothing outside the regular
stock.
The next Of kin was brother, liv-
Ing n thousand miles away. He came
on and renewed the search. When 1t
panned out nothing he hired men to
rae the building to the ground, and
every brace and beam was tested as it
was removed. The work went on until
only the cellar walls were left. and
stone masons tested these with their
hammers and found no hollow spots
The bottom of the cellar was dug up
to a depth of three feet, but no cavl-
ties or iron bound boxes were discov-
cred. That ended the search, and
then detective was employed to take
the case up as n whole.
He was u shrewd fellow, but what
could he do? a man locks himself
into his shop at night. He is missing
next morning, with all the doors still
locked and the keys on the inside. He
owes no man n cent, but leaves thou
sands of dollars worth Of property be-
hind him. Two hundred newspapers
give the affair publicity, and million
people perhaps are on the watch for a
man described so and so, but not the
slightest trace can be discovered.
What was there for detective to
work on?
Years went by and the cellar re-
manned open. No one wanted to buy
the site. In time the Burchard mys-
terry ceased to be talked about, and a
new generation of boys grew up to
play hide and seek in the cellar. Ten
years had gone by when three or
four boys jumped into the cavity one
| day after a football which had been
kicked there. In the struggle for the
ball it was kicked here and there. and
finally fell into a hole at the base of
the crumbling west wall. In trying
to recover 1t the boys pulled away a
stone, and a minute later they had
discovered a hidden door and solved
| the veXatious mystery.
Old Burchard had constructed a
stone vault under the back yard, with
an opening from the cellar. He was a
cunning worker, and in making the
door he had bolted thin slabs of stone
to planks and hung the hinges on the
inside. The keyhole looked like frac-
ture i'm one of the stones, and the whole
was so artfully arranged that of the
hundreds of men who had searched
not one had suspected the location of
the door. In their tests the stone
| masons probably missed that partic-
ular spot.
You are prepared to learn that old
Burchard's bones were found within.
The door had swung on him as he en-
tered the vault to put away his money
for the night and had become damned.
The foul air had killed him within an
hour. In that vault were found up
ward of $4,000 in cash and all the
property he had loans on. and of the
body there were only bones and dust
OF course everybody said that q
secret door should have been suspect