Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1910-11-03
CHAPTER xXxl.-Continued.

The slip had said chimney" It
was the only clue, and a house as
large as Sunnyside was full of them.
dressing room, but none in the bed
room, and as i lay there, looking
around, thought of something that
made me sit up suddenly. The trunk
room, just over my head, had an open
fireplace and brick chimney, and
yet there was nothing of the kind in
my room. / got out of bed and ex-
amined the opposite wall closely.
There was apparently no fiue, and l
knew there was none in the hall just
beneath. The house was heated by
steam, as have said before. In the
living room was huge open fireplace,
but it was on the other side
Why did the trunkroom have both
q radiator and an open fireplace?
Architects were not usually erratic.
1t was not IL minutes before I was up
stairs, armed with tape-measure in
lieu Of foot-rule, eager to justify Mr..
Jamieson's opinion of my intelligence,
and firmly resolved not to tell him of
my suspicion until / had more than
theory to go on. The hole in the
trunkroom wall still yawned there, be-
tween the chimney and the outer wall.
i examined 1t again, with no new re.
suit The space between the brick
wall and the plaster and lath one,
however, had new significance. The
hole showed only one side of the chin.
ney, and ! determined to investigate
what lay in the space on the other
side of the mantel.
/ had a blister on my palm when
at last the Ratchet went through and
fell with what soundedli like the report OF
q gun to my overstrained nerves. / sal
on trunk, waiting to hear Liddy fly
up the stairs, with the household be
hind her, like the tail of a comet. But
nothing happened, and with a growing
feeling Of uncanniness ] set to worl
enlarging the opening.
The result was absolutely nil. Wher
I could hold lighted candle In tn,
opening i saw precisely what hat
seen on the other side of the Gimme,
"a space between the true wall ant
the false one, possibly seven feet loni
and about three feet wide. 1t was il
no sense Of the word secret cham
Der, and II was evident 1t had no
been disturbed since the house wa
built. 1t was supreme disappoint
ment
1t had been Mr.. Jamieson's idet
that the hidden room, II there wal
one, would be found somewhere nea
the circular staircase. In fact, knew
that he had once investigated the en-
tire length of the clothes chute, hang
Ing to a rope, with this in view.
was reluctantly about to concede tina
he had been right, when my eyes fel
on the mantel and fireplace. The lat
ted had evidently never been used
u was closed with a metal fire front
and only when the front refused Z,
move, and investigation showed tina
II was not intended to be moved, di,
my spirits revive.
hurried into the next room. Yes
sure enough, there was a similar man
eel and fireplace there, similarl,
closed. In both rooms the chime,
tue extended well out from the wall
Z measured with the tape-line, m,
hands trembling so that / coul
scarcely hold II. They extended tw,
feet and half into each room, whicl
with the three feet of space between
the two partitions, made eight feet t
be accounted for. Eight feet in on
direction and almost seven in the 9th
er-what chimney II was,
But / had only located the hiddel
room. ] was not in IL, and no amour
of pressing on the carving OF tn
wooden mantels, no search Of tn
eoors for loose boards, none of tn
customary methods availed at al
That there was means of entrance
and probably simple one, could b
certain. But what? What would
find II did get In? Was the detect
Eve right, and were the bonds an
money from the Traders bank there
Or was our whole theory wrong
Would not Paul Armstrong have takel
his booty with himf II he had not
and II DIR. Walker was In the secret
he would have known how to ente
the chimney room. Then--who ha,
tng the other hole In the false part
uon?