Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1910-12-15

vertical iron ladder, fastened to the
wall outside of the ballroom, and per-
haps IL feet high. The IL feet looked
short from below, but they were dit
dcult to climb. ! gathered my silk
gown around me, and succeeded final
ly in making the top of the ladder.
Once there, however. was complete
ly out of breath. / sat down, my feet
on the top rung, and put my hair-pins
in more securely, while the wind bel
lowed my dressing-gown out like
sail. had torn a great strip OF the
silk loose, and now l ruthlessly lin
ished the destruction of my gown by
jerking it free and tying it around my
head
Luckily, the roof was fiat, end i
was able to go over every inch OF it. But
the result was disappointing; no trap
door revealed itself, no glass window;
nothing but couple of pipes two
inches across, and standing perhaps
10 inches high and three feet apart,
with cap to prevent rain from en-
tering and raised to permit the pas
sage of air | picked up a pebble
from the roof and dropped it down,
listening with my ear at one OF the
pipes i could hear. it strike on some
thing with sharp, metallic sound,
but it was impossible for me to tell
how far it had gone.
gave up finally and went down the
ladder again, getting in through the
l,nJ wis hoir oh.
served. / went back at once to the
| trunkroom, and, sitting down on a
box, gave my mind, as consistently as
| could, to the problem before me. II
/ the pipes in the roof were ventilators
| 70 the secret room, and there was no
!! trap-dnor above. the entrance was
probably in one of the two rooms be.
tween which it lay-unless, indeed
the room had been built. and the open
ing closed with brick and mortar
| wall.
1 The mantel fascinated me. Made OF
wood and carved, the more looked
| the more | wondered that I had not
a mantel in such place. 1t was GOV
cred with scrolls and panels, and fin
ally, by the merest accident, ! pushed
one of the panels at the side. Il
moved easily, revealing q small brass
knob.
4 1t is not necessary to detail the
fluctuations of hope and despair, ant
not little fear of what lay beyond
with which ! twisted and turned thu
knob. 1t moved, but nothing seemed
to happen, and then / discovered thu
trouble l pushed the knob vigorous
" to one side, aud the whole mantle
4 swung loose from the wall almost ;
foot, revealing a cavernous space be
i yond. @
Il took a long breath. closed tn
door from the trunkroom into the hal
thank heaven, did not lock tan
pulling the mantel-door wide open,
/ stepped into the chimney room. i ha
time to get q hay view of a sma
/ portable safe, a comron wooden tabl
and a chair-then the mantel doc
swung to, arc clicked behind me.
J stood quite still for a moment, in tn
], darkness, unable to comprehend whs
, had happened. Then l turned and bes
i furiously at the door with my fist
! 1t was closed and locked again, an
4 my fingers in the darkness slid over
/ smooth wooden surface without a sig
9 of a knob. ~ &
!. ! was furiousiy angry--at myself, I
+ the mantel-door, at everything. / d
b not fear suffocation; before Il
thought had come to me had alreat
i seen CLEAN of light from the tv
Y small ventiiating pipes in the roc
a They supplied air, but nothing els
nj The room itself was shrouded
nj blackness.
S must have dozed off. I am su
/ did not faint. was never mo
~ composed in my life. rememb
d -
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