Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-01

musty. Musty and damp. Like cellar
air
That's odd" thinks l. Ought to be
dry enough up here
Then l got to PAWN around at the
back and the next thing I'd discovered
some cracks. | traced 'em with my
fingers. Just the size of a door! Another
minute and I'd found a little button,
doorknob high. and had pressed it. If
hadn't been braced just right I'd had a
tumble. too for something gave way.
Hey | sings out. pushin open the
wardrobe door. 81 guess here's the an
swer. How about this for a secret
exit"
by George." says Upper, starin' in
Good work, Torchy" says Old Hick-
DRY. But where does it lead to-"
Suppose we explore says I. 1--WE
ought to have some kind of light,
though
Here is a box of Matches" says
Upper.
''Fine!' says I, strikin' one. and
here's part of an old candle on little
shelf Hello! A winding iron staircase
built inside of a false wall Kind Of
narrow, though
ST it was wide enough for Big Dan."
says Old Hickory, 81 think We can
squeeze through. Go ahead, Torchy."
So down we goes, circlin' down and
down in the damp muSty chute with the
brick walls on either side. until at last
bottom.
Must be the basement" says l.
Part of it. anyway. And there ought
to be door somewhere"
There was, but it's at the end farthest
from the street side and it opens into
another tunnel-like affair. We filed
through that for quite a ways, maybe
seventy-five or one hundred feet, before
we comes to another door There's a
heavy spring lock on this door and it's
% RI cd dn' he
catch to save me, and while l was
strugglin' with it 1 hears voices on the
other side.
"Say," says l, eff we do get through
here We'll break in on somebody. Wait
sec. Whats, this. 1 wonder Uh-
I'd found it by discoverin' little
wooden knob about five feet up, and
when l pulls on it this three-inch knot
hole comes open. First off / can't see
a thing through it. but by pokin' slim
| stick in and pushin' something one
side l can get view. And l finds my
, self lookin' into the back of a tailor
shop with couple of Notifies busy out
front at their pressin' boards. 1t had
been somebody's suit hung over the
door that had blocked me from SEEM
through at first.
"Ss-sh!" says l. We're almost in
pressin' club. Want to have peek?"
And after they've both had a look
L closes the hole.
That tells the whole story" saws
Old Hickory. Big Dan either owned
or rented the house directly in the
rear and used this basement on the
next street as a means of slipping in
and out"
HE must have foreseen that some day
he might need to get away in hurry.
Well Ellins, I congratulate you. You
have solved the mystery"
You mean Torchy has," says Old
Hickory and twenty-five years ago
it would have been valuable dis
covery."
Just my luck!" says I. "Arrivin'
late"
"oh. don't know" says Upper.
You still have those twenty-five years
ahead of you, and you don't mind
climbing those beastly winding stairs.
While we-well, Ellins, shall we
tackle 'em?"
How about these?" says 1. syingin'
the candle round Here's funny old
that somebody must have left on the
peg"
there? Let's see 'em. Why-why-I
say, upper. Remember these?" -.
If he'd ever seen 'em before he
must, for the coat is a curio. It's a
regular he-sized cutaway of brown and
black checked pattern, with big pocket
flaps on either side. And the hat is
sort of cross between derby and
stovepipe. You know, one of these
flattopped affairs like country bankers
sometimes wear to town. Anyway.
Topper remembered
big Dans!" says he.
1.-The very coat he had on that night
when 1 saw him last" says Old
Hickory. "Of course. he would change
if he was going out and didn't want to
be recognized. So he hung these here
Bring them along up to the light
Torchy."
J. expect-Old Hickory, must-haYe