The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-01-09
waiting a moment he walked to the

door.
The corridor outside was empty,
and a low hum Of conversation
came from the living room. The
professor stepped out into the cor
ridor and shut the door sound
lessly behind him. Then he made
his way down the hall until he
was opposite the door with the
lions head knocker.
Looking carefully about, he took
a key from his pocket ana slipped
it into the loc,.:. In minute the
door opened and he was standing
at the top Of a long flight OF adobe
steps. He closed the door care
fully and, turning on a small
pocket fiashlight, went slowly
down into the darkness below.
1t was a very long stairway, al
he had expected it would be. The
measurements he had made from
the outside Of the house had told
him that the hacienda was BULL
on more than q trace Of the ole
Indian pueblo. There were many
feet left Of the ancient structure
so the basement Of the house was
probably much deeper than II
would have been II It's walls hat
been Of modern construction.
At last he stood In what ap.
peared to be an ordinary storage
room. A great many boxes and
barrels were arranged In neat
piles around three sides. leaving
one wall clear.
The professor eyed this vacant
space with some interest, but
there seemed to be nothing I'M
usual about 1t. He ran his hand
over the surface and got pain
full splinter in one finger for hit
curiosity. Hhen he turned hi;
attention to the floor, tapping II
here and there. Apparently 1t
to, was of solid material with
nothing unusual In its construc-
ton. He took out the notebook
consulting its pages with puzzled
from on his thin face. Could he
nave been mistaken again? He
had thought there was no posi-
bility of that, after the weeks he
had put in checking and mapping
the outlines Of the old pueblo.
He had traced the entire struc-
ture so that he could reconstruct II
In his notebook, much as 1t must
have stood out against the skyline
atop the mesa. An imposing and
| ,uoll -Ia,,tIt nov,,v ,a,,po1 t,n,,ea ~ yA,,ct
have been, he had decided, for the
abode was of fine quality, evidently
the work of master builders.
But Professor Shaw did not
have time to stand incoming over
bygone days. The cellar had fur
ther significance for him and the
hours were all too short in which
to prove this thing of which he
had been so sure. Once more he
went over as much of the room
as he could without moving any
thing, examining every inch Of the
walls and floor. The search was
unrewarded.
He paused before the blank
space and looked at 1t thought
fully. Was there any reason why
three sides Of the room should be
filled and nothing placed against
that particular wall? Throwing
the yellow beam of hts light
against its edges. he peered at the
wall closely, but, so far as he
could see, the parts fitted together
so closely 1t was apparent that 1t
had never been moved. Carefully
he tapped the wall, listening in
tently for evidence Of a hollow
beyond. ts-.
Just as he was about to give up
he detected a difference In the
sound, and eagerly he compared
its location with the notes In his
book. He was right then, after
all. There was a hollow space
behind that wall - a space he
could almost outlines, now that he
knew 1t was there.
There had been reason for
keeping the wall clear. Evidently
the present owners Of the house
knew of that other chamber and
possibly had some way Of getting
into it. Why were they so secre-
tive? What was In that mysteri-
Gus place? The professor turned
his attention again to the floor in
from Of the vacant wall. This
too, gave indications of an open
ing beneath when he tapped 1t
directly opposite the place in the
wall that had had a different
sound. So there was a space I'M
der the floor level, too. Well, he
had expected that.