The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1941-07-05
Chanter rs
Secret Passage

THE day wore On. with Mrs.
Marhury becoming more and
more depressed with every pass
ing hour. Late in the afternoon.
when the girls went down stairs
70 join the rest of the company,
they heard her telling Mr.. Howe:
II really can't think what's got
into Theodore. OF course | did
tell him that if Gina really liked
the place and we were not too un-
comfortable, he needn't expect to
hear from me for while. And
then with the storm and every-
thing, he probably couldn't send
a plane. But / thought with the
first clear day
Mr.. Howe's voice, in a soothing
murmur, broke into her COM
plant. But Mrs. Marhury, as Julie
recollected bitterly, had been shell
tered and protected all her life.
1t was new sensation to her to
lind that after all. she was inn
portant to only one man, that
without Theodore she could ap-
pear or disappear as she pleased.
1t gave Julie some small salts
faction TO think that the whole
group could not with all their
money, buy their way out of this
situation.
Dinner was gloomy affair.
They gathered in the living room
afterward, but there was not
much conversation. Eve noted
that Gina's attempts to engage
Brett in anything like tete-a-
tete were unsuccessful He wan
dered around the room talking to
each of the men in turn, evidently
making out a schedule for the
watch they were ito keep that
night.
Jim Droissard was given the
first shift, from nine until twelve.
AS that hour approached DEois-
Sard began to walk restlessly
about, apparently disturbed by
the fact that they were all sitting
up with him. 1t was Mrs. Mar
hurry who made the first move to
retire to her own room, and the
Others quickly followed suit.
When Eve and Julie got to bed
they discovered that the odd
events of the day, and the strain
of fighting an unfriendly atmos-
phere, had tired them more than
they realized. Eve attempted TO
read for while, but she soon
blew out the candle and fell into
a heavy, dreamless sleep.
It was still dark when she wax
ened. There was no sound with
in the house, although the wind
and the beat of the surf against
the shore made the night outside
alive with strange noises.
She lay for perhaps half an hour
trying to get to sleep once again,
but she had never felt more awake
in her life Cautiously, she lit the
candle and, placing it on the floor
so that it would not shine on
jules face, she consulted her
wristwatch. II was half past
twelve.
Downstairs in the library Brett
Rodman went once more to the
carved panelling of the mantel-
piece. He had relieved Jim Drois-
sard even before twelve o'clock,
scarcely able to repress his eager
ness to discover the secret passage
that must be hidden in this odd
half-Wall that jutted out into the
center of the room. He told him
self once more that there was abb
solutely no reason for such a wall
to be four feet deep. unless 1t were
to admit passage Of some sort
Once more he felt carefully over
every bit of the characterization
on the mantlepiece. And although
he looked hopefully for some
break in either the row Of book
cases that lined one side or the
wall or the smooth, unbroken sur
face of the other wall, he could
see nothing. Suddenly he had an
lnspIralEUn.
He went back to the bookcase
and pulled out the yellowed vol
ume that the lawyer had been
reading from a few nights before.
Perhaps there was something IN
the description Of the house which
Mr.. Howe had skipped over, and
which might give him clue.
But he never opened the book.
AS he removed it from the shelf,
his eyes fell upon a button. Brett
dropped the book onto the floor
and stified a shout of Joy. Then he
set his thumb against the button,
pressing hard.
The Passage
INSTANTLY section of the wall
1 on the right side of the fire.
place moved outward As Brett
ran around, he was conscious OF
the old thrill that always came to
him when he explored the secrets
of old houses. Now he hastily 1T
a candle and, making sure that his
lighter was in his pocket went
into the small opening
The air was fresh and sweet
There must be an opening Through
the secret room upstairs, ne de-
cided, looking up the narrow stair
case at the left that led to the sec
ond floor.
But he was in no mood to ex-
plore the upstairs room at the mo,
rnent. He glanced to the right and