Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1907-04-06
CHAPTER XXI.
The Door of BeWilGern1ent,

We had established the practice OF
barring all the gates and doors at
nightfall. There was no way of,guard-
ing against an attack from the lake.
whose frozen surface increased the
danger from without: but we counted
on our night patrol to prevent sur
prise from that quarter. | was well
aware that I must prepare to resist the
militant arm of the law. which Picker
ing would no doubt invoke to aid him,
but | intended to exhaust the possibili
ties in searching for the lost treasure
before | yielded Pickering might, if
he would, transfer the estate of John
Marshall Glenarm to Marian Devereux
and make the most he could of that
service, but he should not drive me
forth until had satisfied myself of the
exact character of my grandfather's
fortune. If it had vanished, If Picker
ing had stolen 1t and outwitted me in
making off with 1t, that was another
matter.
The phrase, "The Door of Bewllder-
ment." had never ceased to reiterate
itself in my mind; there was a certain
fascination and charm in it. We dis
cussed thousand explanations of 1t
as we pondered over the scrap of paper
I had found in the library, and every
book in the house was examined in
the search for further clews.
The passage between the house and
the chapel seemed to fascinate Larry.
He held that it must have some par
ticular use and he devoted his time to
exploring it.
He came up at noon-it was the 10Th
of December-wfth grimy face and
hands and grin on his face. l had
spent my morning in the towers to no
purpose and was in no mood for the
ready acceptance of new theories.
I've found something" he said, fill
ing his pipe.
Not soap, evidently"
NO but I'm going to say the last
word on the tunnel, and within an
hour. Give me glass of beer and a
piece of bread, and Wen go back and
see whether we're sold again or not"
Go ahead and let us be done with
it. Wait till l tell Stoddard where
we're going"
The chaplain was trying the second
floor walls, and | asked him to eat
some luncheon and stand guard while
Larry and went to the tunnel
We took with us an iron bar, an AK
and a couple of hammers. Larry went
ahead with lantern.
You see," he explained, as we
dropped through the trap into the pas
sage I've tried a compass on this
tunnel and ind that we've been work
ing on the wrong theory. The passage
itself runs straight line from the
house under the gate to the crypt; the
ravine is a rough crescent-shape and
for short distance the tunnel touches
it, How deep does that ravine aver
age-about 80 feet9"
Yes; it's shenowest where the
house stands. 1t drops sharply from
there on to the lake"
Very good; but the ravine issall on
the Glenarm side of the wall, isn't it?
Now when we get under the wall I'll
show you something"
Here we are" said Larry as the
cold air blew in through the hollow
posts. Nov were pretty nea, that
sharp curve of the ravine that dips
away from the wall Take sle lan.erol
While get out the compass. What do
you think that c on the piece Of paper
means? Why, chapel. OF course. |
have measured the distance from the
house, the point of departure, we may
assume, to the. chapel. and three
T0uTtAs OF it brings Us un1er those
beautiful posts. The directions are
as plain as daylight. The passage it,
self is your n. w, as the compass
proves, and the ravine cuts close in
here; therefore, our business is to ext
plore the vail on the ravine side"
Good but this IS Just wall here
earth with layer of bricks and thin
coat of cement. A nice job it must
have been to do the work.-andi it cost
Continued on Sixth Page)