The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1910-10-06

~ - hs'Dit.'. Paul Armstrong was not
CHAPTER xxxl.-centinusd
The slip had said Chimney" It
wAs The only clue. and . house -
large ~ Sunnyside was full Of them.
Thsss was an open fireplace In my
room, and - I lay there. looking
around. I 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-
amineA the opposite wall closely.
The1e was apparently NO hue. and I
knew there was none In the hall Just
beneath. The house was heated by
steam, as l have said before. In the
living room was Z huge open fireplace,
but It was ON the other side.
Why did the trunkroom have both
. radiator and an open fireplace?
Architects were not usually erratic.
1t vas not IL minutes before was up
stars, armed with q tape-measure in
~ Of foot-rule. eager to justify Mr..
Jamteson's opinion of my Intelligence.
and FIRMLY resolved not to tell him Of
my suspicion until l had more than
theory to 90 on. The hole in the
trunkroom wall still yawned there, BE-
tween the chimney and the outer wall
l examined 1t again. with NO new re-
suit. The space between the brick
wall and the plaster and lath one,
however. had a new significance. The
hofe showed only one side Of the chin
neg, and determined to Investigate
what lay in the space ON the other
siAe Of the mantel.
had . blister on my palm when
at last the hatchet went through and
fell with what sounded like the report of
. Sun to my overstrained nerves. sat
on trunk, waiting to hear Liddy ny
up the stairs, with the household be-
hind her. like the tail of comet. But
nothing happened, and with growing
feeling of uncanniness l set to work
snlarging the opening.
The result was absolutely nil. When
I could hold . lighted candle In the
opening saw precisely what had
seen on the other side Of the chimney
"A space between the true wall and
the false one, possibly seven feet long
and about three feet wide. 1t was in
NO sense Of the word a secret cham
Der, and it was evident 1t had not
besn disturbed since the house was
built. It was q supreme disappoint-
nent.
had been Mr.. Jamiesons idea
tkSt the hidden room, II there was
one, would be found somewhere near
the circular staircase. In fact, I 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 that
he had been right, when my eyes fell
On the mantel and fireplace. The lat
ted had evidently never been used;
It was closed with metal fire front,
and only when the front refused to
move. and investigation showed that
It was not intended to be moved, did
my spirits revive.
hurried into the next room. Yes,
sure enough. there was similar man.
tel and fireplace there. similarly
closed. In both rooms the chimney
1oe extended we'll out from the wall
I measured with the tape.line, my
hands trembling SO that I could
scarcely hold 1t. They extended two
feet and half into each room, which
WIN the three feet of space between
the two partitions, made eight feet to
be accounted for. Eight feet in one
direction and almost seven in the 9TH
sr-what a chimney it was!
But had only located the hidden
room. was not in it, and NO amount
Of pressing on the carving of the
wooden mantels. no search Of the
floors for loose boards, none of the
Customary methods availed at all.
That there was a means Of entrance,
and probably simple one, could be
certain. But what? What would I
I'D II did get in? Was the detect
q right and were the bonds and
money from the Traders bank there?
OH< was our whole theory wrong?