The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1910-10-13
TIL CIRCULAR STAIRCASf


vsstt1sl ko IaAA0A ensAa.al = -
vail outsiAs a tie hallroon. anA psr-
haps IL fest high. Th0 II test looked
short fro0 below. bat they we're DIFF
Acult to clinb. ] gathered ny silk
govn around ms. aAA succeeded Aaal
~ il making ths to0 a The ladder.
Oaes there. hovsvss. ! vas complete
" out of breath ct Sown. ny feet
o. the top rung. snA pat my hair-pins
In more securely. vhiIs the vinA BEL
lowed ny dreaadAGGown out Ike Q
sail. ] had torn . great strip q the
silk loose, and noV ] rvthlsssly In
ishsd the Asstrvctioo a ny COWS By
Jerking 4 fres anA tyiag Il arounA NJ
hsaA.
Lnekily. tie reof vas Aat. and I
vas able to 60 over every inch Of It. But
he result vas disappointing: no trap
door revealed Itself. 70 glass visAov:
nothing but . couple of pipes two
iachss across. and standing perhaps
10 ineAss high aaA three test Apart
with . cap to prevent rain from en.
tsriag and raised to permit the pas
sage ot air. picked uD . pebble
from the roof and dropped It down.
listening with my ear at one of the
pipes. could hear It strike on some
thing with . sharp. metallic SQUAD.
but II was Impossible for me to tell
how fas It had gone.
! gave up finally and went dowa the
ladder again. getting in through the
ballroom window without being OBJ
served. went hack at once to the
trunkroom. and. sitting down Oh .
box. gave my mind. ~ consistently %
I could. to the problem before me. II
the pipes in the roof were ventilators
to the secret room. and there was NO
trap-door above. the entrance was
probably In one Of the two rooms BE-
tween which II lay-unless. indeed.
the room had beea built. and the open
ing closed with . brick and mortar
wall.
The maAtsl fascinated ne. Nads of
wood and carved. the more I looked
the more I wondered that I had not
noticed before the absurdity Of such
. mantel in such Q place. II was GOV.
cred with scrolls and panels. and I'm
ally. BY the merest accident, I pushed
one Of the panels at the side. 1t
moved easily. revealing . small brass
knob.
It ID not necessary to detail the
fluctuations Of hope and despair. and
not . little fear of what lay beyond.
with which I twisted and turned the
knob. 1t moved, but nothing seemed
- happen, and then discovered the
trouble. I pushed the knob vigorous.
ly to one side. and the whole mantel
swung loose from the wall almost .
foot. revealing . cavernous space be-
yond.
took = long breath. closed the
door from the trunkroom into the hall
thank heaven. did not lock it-and
pulling the mantel-door wide open,
stepped into the chimney-room. had
time to get haxy view Of . small
portable safe, common wooden table
and q chair-then the mantel door
swung to, and clicked behind me.
stood quite still for . moment. in the
darkness. unable to comprehend what
had happened. Then turned and beat
furiously at the door with my asts.
It was closed and locked again, and
my fingers in the darkness slid over q
smooth wooden surface without sign
of . knob.
was furiously angry-at myself, at
the manteldoor. At everything. did
not fear suhocation; before the
thought had come to me I had already
seen . gleam Of light from the two
small ventilating pipes in the roof.
They supplied air. but nothing else.
The room itself was shrouded in
blackness.
must have doxed on. I am sure
I did not faint. was never more
composed in my life. l remember