The Secret of Casa Grande

by Roy J. Snell

  CHAPTER X THROUGH THE MYSTERIOUS WINDOW

  Their dance came suddenly to an end when Peggy exclaimed, "Jo, stop!Hush! There's someone coming up the stairs."

  "Oh, do you suppose it's Florence? We haven't washed a dish."

  "And whose fault is it, I wonder?" Peggy retorted teasingly.

  In a few more moments a decrepit, half-blind old man, led by a small,wizened-faced boy, appeared at the head of the stairs.

  Jo Ann gave a long sigh. "They must be patients for Dr. Blackwell. I'llhave my troubles now trying to talk to them."

  "Can't you ask them what they want?"

  "I'll try. Let's see. Ah--_que queres_ [what do you want]?" she finallymanaged in Spanish.

  The old man mumbled a reply, but Jo Ann could not understand a singleword.

  "Do you want _el doctor_?" she asked again. Once more the old man mumbledan unintelligible reply.

  Jo Ann turned to Peggy. "I can't make out a thing he says. What'd webetter do? Take them into the office and let them wait? Florence alwaystries to persuade the patients to wait for her father."

  "I don't know what to say," replied Peggy doubtfully. "I've never seensuch pitiful-looking specimens of humanity in my life. They look likecharity cases to me, but maybe you'd better try to hold them."

  "Well, I'll try--if I can make them understand."

  With renewed efforts Jo Ann struggled to make herself understood, using amixture of Spanish and English and gesturing vigorously with her hands.

  Not the slightest change came over the expressionless faces of the manand boy.

  In despair Jo Ann turned again to Peggy. "They're hopeless," shedeclared. "I give up. Let's just leave them standing here."

  As soon as she had stopped talking, the boy took the old man by the handand led him down the stairs and into the street.

  "I'm sorry I couldn't hold them," sighed Jo Ann, dropping down on thesteps to rest after her strenuous efforts.

  "Come on," urged Peggy. "Let's finish the dishes before Florence getsback."

  "All right. We'll have to hurry."

  Returning to the kitchen, they attacked the dishes energetically, thoughtalking over the discovery of the hidden room all the time.

  "While you put things away," offered Jo Ann, "I'll sweep, andeverything'll be straight in a jiffy."

  When they had almost finished, Florence appeared in the doorway.

  "How smart you've been!" she praised, glancing around the kitchenapprovingly. "You didn't have time to get into mischief, did you?"

  "We've had time to make a wonderful discovery!" exclaimed Jo Ann quickly."Guess what we've found!"

  "What--the family skeleton?"

  Ignoring Florence's sarcastic remark, Jo Ann went on rapidly, "We'vefound the door to a mysterious room at the end of the hall!"

  "A door! A room!" Florence gasped. "What're you talking about?"

  With her words tumbling over each other in her excitement, Jo Ann beganexplaining the details of their discovery.

  "It seems almost unbelievable that there's a hidden room in this house,"Florence exclaimed, wide-eyed as she wheeled about to examine the shadowof the doorway by the flashlight.

  "There's a door there, all right--I can see it," she agreed finally. "Butwhat--why do you imagine anyone sealed it up?"

  Peggy shook her head dubiously and replied, "I haven't the slightestidea."

  "I'm not sure about that either," put in Jo Ann, "but I do know that themysterious window opens into this hidden room."

  "I believe you're right," Peggy agreed quickly. "I believe it does."

  "I do, too," added Florence. "But what do you suppose is inside thishidden room? That _is_ a mystery!"

  "I'll be able to explain that before long," declared Jo Ann. "I'm goingto look through that window this very day."

  "Oh, Jo, do be careful," warned Florence. "I'm afraid you'll be----"

  Before Florence could finish her sentence, Peggy broke in with, "If yougo, Jo, I'm going up on the roof with you."

  "All right--that suits me. If things work out right, I'm going during thesiesta hour. I slipped past the watchdog once--surely I can slip into theoffice without getting caught----" She stopped suddenly. "Mentioning theoffice reminds me that two patients came while you were gone, Florence. Idid my best to hold them, but I didn't succeed--I couldn't make themunderstand a word. They looked stupid to me." She went on to give a vividdescription of their appearance.

  Before she had finished, Florence began to smile.

  "What's the joke?" Jo Ann demanded.

  "I'm glad you didn't hold them--they weren't patients at all," Florencereplied, still smiling. "That was just a poor old beggar who comes byevery few days."

  Peggy burst into laughter. "That makes Jo's efforts to hold them all thefunnier. I wish you could have seen her--she talked with her hands asmuch as she did with her mouth."

  "She's a true Mexican, then," laughed Florence. "That's the way they do.But this won't get us anything to eat. We're going to have your friedchicken today. How does that suit you, Peg?"

  Peggy nodded approval. "Fine! Who says I don't rate high in thishousehold?"

  "Don't get so conceited," teased Florence. "I just thought that'd be theeasiest thing to fix."

  Joking and laughing over their work, the morning passed quickly.

  As soon as lunch was over and the girls had gone to their room for thesiesta hour, Jo Ann pulled a pair of knickers from her trunk and beganputting them on. "It'll be much easier to climb in these, and I won't benearly as conspicuous," she remarked to the girls.

  "Since I'm not going to do as much climbing as you are, I won't botherabout changing," put in Peggy.

  "Peep out the door, Florence," Jo Ann ordered a moment later, "and seewhere Felipe is. If he's awake, get him out of the way. We can't wait anylonger--we'll have to hurry, or we can't get through before the citywakes from its siesta."

  "W-ell," she agreed hesitantly, walking over to the door. The next momentshe called over her shoulder, "He's awake. I'll have to put him to workat something." She disappeared into the hall.

  "I'm so excited I can scarcely wait," Jo Ann went on as she finisheddressing. "Let's see--I'll need my flashlight. By the time I get in thatnarrow opening, there won't be much space left for the light to filterthrough."

  "Have you the rope?" asked Peggy. "Do you suppose it'll take you as longto fasten it as it did before? Gee, I hate to think of that sun!"

  "You forget the parasol's still up there. I've got everything I need. Areyou ready?"

  Just then Florence returned and announced that she had sent Felipe tosweep the kitchen.

  Thus assured that Felipe was out of the way, the girls slipped quickly tothe balcony.

  Unfastening the string from the hinge where they had left it, the ropedropped within reach. With the flashlight fastened to the back of herbelt, Jo Ann climbed, hand over hand, up to the roof.

  As soon as she had helped Peggy over the ledge and slipped the rope offthe iron bar, the two girls hurried on across the roof. They did not wantto stay in the sun longer than necessary or climb back to the balconybefore a crowd of spectators.

  "Isn't this view gorgeous!" exclaimed Peggy, running first to one side ofthe building and then to the other, to gaze down on the city lyingquietly below.

  "Yes," nodded Jo Ann, busily making the necessary preparations for herhazardous adventure. "Bring me the parasol a minute, will you?"

  "All right, but what in the world are you going to do with a parasol?"

  "Wait a minute and you'll see. I've got to fasten this rope to the wallby poking it through this little hole--left here for a drain I suppose.You'll notice the roof slopes down this way a little."

  "Yes, I see, but how'll that fasten it?"

  "Well, I'll tie this stick"--Jo Ann held up a piece of wood--"to the endof the rope, then push it through the hole." Suiting her words to action,she began poking it with the parasol. "Climb up on the wall a
nd tell mewhen it comes through, will you?"

  "All right," said Peggy, scrambling up on the wall. "It's through!" shecalled a moment later.

  "Now--you see the stick hangs across the opening, making sort of ananchor for the rope," Jo Ann explained. "Isn't it lucky for me that holewas in the right place? I'd surely hate to drive another iron bar in thiswall. It's terrible!"

  "Wh-ew!" Peggy gasped as she looked down over the wall. "It's so high onthis side of the house, you'd break every bone in your body if you fellon these cobblestones!"

  "Cut out the dramatics, Peg," scolded Jo Ann. "I'll be careful. Tell meif the loop on the end of the rope comes just a little below the window,"she added, testing the knots in the rope.

  "Yes, it's all right."

  "Fine! Everything's ready, then--ready for the great adventure--thesolving of the mystery." The next moment Jo Ann was over the edge of thewall.

  Peggy watched, breathless, till Jo Ann disappeared; then, throwingherself across the wall and oblivious of the intense heat of the stones,she watched anxiously as Jo Ann descended the sheer side of the building.

  With the utmost caution Jo Ann slowly made her way down the rope.Carefully she lowered herself from knot to knot. A false move might bedangerous. "It's lots more dangerous than I realized," she told herself.

  On a level with the window she stopped. Then, while standing in the loopon the end of the rope and clinging tightly to it with one hand, shetried to get a fingerhold in the opening. Unfortunately, on a wall thatwas over two feet thick and perfectly smooth, it was not possible;moreover, it was exceedingly difficult for her, while clinging to a ropehigh in the air, to crawl into an opening only two feet high and fourfeet across. Holding tightly to the rope with both hands, she finallyswung her feet into the window, but could get no further. In thishalf-sitting position her head and shoulders came above the top of theopening.

  "To think I'm in the window and yet can't look inside!" she exclaimedaloud.

  "What's the matter?" called Peggy anxiously.

  "Oh, I'm just too big to get into this hole!" she answered disgustedly.

  "Well, come back up here, then. Give up this foolishness while you're allin one piece."

  "What! Give up when I'm this near? I should say not!" Jo Ann's voice wasemphatic.

  She began wriggling and twisting more determinedly than ever, and atlast, after repeated efforts, she managed to stretch herself across thebroad ledge, with her feet dangling in the air. After resting a moment,she worked herself around till she faced the mysterious room.

  Immediately she felt cold air against her face and caught whiffs of adank, musty odor.

  Her heartbeats quickened as she realized how near she was to solving themystery. What secret lay concealed within these walls?

  Unfastening the flashlight from her belt, she threw its rays around inthe darkness. Blank walls, stained with age, loomed before her. As nearlyas she could judge, this tiny, high-ceilinged room was only about six byten feet, and the window in which she lay, about fifteen feet from thefloor.

  The room appeared perfectly bare. Not an object of any sort was to beseen. For what had it been used? Since it had at one time been connectedwith the rest of the house, there was bound to have been some reason forits construction.

  "Peggy and Florence'll have the laugh on me if there's nothing in thisroom and I've had all this work for nothing," she thought. "There oughtto be something to show what it was used for."

  Again casting the rays of her light over every inch of the room, shestopped suddenly on noticing the curious appearance of the floor. Onehalf of it was the dull gray color of the cement, and the other half,black.

  Taking the string from her belt, she fastened it securely to theflashlight and carefully lowered it down the wall into the room. As therays shone directly on the floor, she gasped in surprise. The black stripwas an open shaft!

  "Why is it there?" she asked herself. "Where does it lead?"

  Peggy called down just then, "Jo! Oh, Jo! Come on. It's time to go, andI'm roasting."

  Jo Ann kicked her feet in response. Why would Peggy interrupt her at sucha time?

  By twisting and turning the string she was able to throw the light backand forth along the shaft. Carefully she examined it. There was someobject at one end of it, she was sure, but in the dim light she could notdistinguish what it was.

  Again Peggy's impatient voice floated down to her.

  "Oh dear, there's Peg calling again," she groaned. "I suppose I'll haveto go now, but I'm coming back--with more light and more rope."

  Just as she started to wind up the string, it suddenly slipped throughher fingers. Down fell the flashlight to the floor, then rolled over anddisappeared down the black hole.

  As its rays shone on the sides of the shaft, Jo Ann caught sight ofsomething which made her gasp in surprise. In her excitement she almostfell off the ledge in her attempt to get a better look at this object.

  "Why! This is a bigger mystery than I ever dreamed!" she ejaculatedaloud.