CHAPTER XVI
BOB SOLVES ANOTHER MYSTERY
"I'VE got it!" he cried. "I've found the--but it can't be a very bigtreasure done up in so small a package," he added in a disappointedtone.
That which had attracted his attention was a metal box about six inchesin length which had been set into the chimney so skilfully that a personpassing would be unlikely to observe it. The box fitted the niche sonicely that Stevens was obliged to use his knife to pry it out. The boxwas locked. He found no key and was about to attempt to pry open thecover with his knife when he paused.
"No. I won't do it. That wouldn't be fair. Miss Thurston is the realdiscoverer. She shall open the box, or I will open it in her presenceunless Mr. Presby wishes to do so himself." Saying which, Bob Stevenspocketed his curiosity as well as the little metal box. The rope nowbeing at hand, he slipped the loop about his waist, reached up andgrasped the lower rung of the ladder, drawing himself up easily untilthe lower rung was beneath his feet. From that point on he climbedrapidly to the platform. From there he was obliged to use the rope inplace of the missing section of the ladder. A few seconds later he wasstanding in the garret.
"How is Miss Mollie?" were his first words.
"Just coming to," answered one of the hands. "Miss Ruth was just up hereto see if you had gotten up yet. She wishes to see you."
"Hold up the lantern. I want to look at this wall a moment." Bob hadfound the maul lying on the floor in the gable. He returned it to thegarret. He now recalled the crash that had followed his final chopping.Since then the young man had reasoned out what he thought was themechanism that had caused all the trouble.
Stevens pushed gently on the panel against which he had originallystruck so hard a blow. To the amazement of the onlookers, the panel fellinto the gable with a mighty crash.
"I thought so," he nodded. The others had leaped to the far side of theroom. Mr. Presby came hobbling up, fearing that still another disasterhad fallen upon the house.
"Please look here, Mr. Presby," called Bob. "Here is the secret. Seethat narrow panel? It is a little wider than a man's body. It is hingedat the bottom. Attached to it were ropes running over pulleys in woodentunnels. At the ends of these ropes are heavy weights. So nicelybalanced were the weights that the pressure of a few pounds from thisside would throw the panel inward. Any person leaning against it on thisside would be dumped into the other room so quickly that unless heunderstood the mechanism, he would not know what had occurred."
"Wonderful," breathed the owner.
"It was evidently intended to afford a quick get-away in case theoccupants of the house found it necessary to leave hurriedly. You willfind the remnants of an old mattress in the gable there. I presume thatwas originally so placed that the person going through would slide fromthe smooth panel to the mattress without the least danger of injury. Theinstant his body left the panel the weights would pull the panel intoplace with a great bang. When the weights struck their foundation--thefloor--another crash would be heard. Were I an Indian, I think I wouldrun if I heard all that crashing and smashing. However, I have cut theropes. You will have no recurrence of to-day's accident. The trap wasopen and both the young women fell into it while groping about in thedark in there. Is Miss Mollie seriously hurt?"
"One wrist is sprained and she is somewhat bruised. I do not believe itwill prove to be anything serious," answered Mr. Presby. "Bob, I thankyou," he added, giving the young man's hand a hearty grip.
"May I go down there now?" piped Tommy.
"You may not, sir," returned his father sternly. "You will keep awayfrom that place entirely. I shall have the opening nailed up to-morrow.By the way, Robert, what did you find at the bottom?" questioned themaster eagerly.
"A caved-in passage. I also found this. I intended to give it to you inthe presence of Miss Thurston. However, it belongs to you."
Mr. Presby turned the metal box over in his hand reflectively.
"Open it, Robert. I decline to become excited."
"May I call Miss Barbara?"
"Certainly."
Tommy fairly flew downstairs for Bab, who returned with him on the run.Stevens showed her the box. Her eyes glowed.
"How is Miss Mollie?" asked the young man.
"I don't think there is very much the matter with her except the shockand the fright. She must have been unconscious down there for quite atime. Please open the box. I am dying of curiosity."
He broke open the box with the stove poker with which he had soundedthe walls. All necks were craned to see what was in the box. To theirwonderment, not unmixed with disappointment, Bob Stevens drew out atarnished gold watch, on the back of which had been cut the letters "T.W. P." It was of English make and very old.
Mr. Presby regarded it solemnly.
"That is my ancestor's watch. It can mean but one thing, finding it aswe have. He left such of his worldly possessions as he could--thiswatch. And to think we have dug up half of the estate for a treasurethat did not exist! It was his silent message to us that this was all hehad to leave in case he did not return." Mr. Presby's voice held a noteof keen disappointment. Even up to now he had not fully lost hope thatby some fortunate circumstance the treasure might yet be found.
"He may have returned and taken the rest of it," reflected Bob. "But ifthat were so, why should he have gone to all the pains of leading us tobelieve there was more?"
"How so?"
"This find means more than appears on the surface, sir."
"May I look at it?" asked Barbara.
A Slip Of Paper Fluttered To the Floor.]
Mr. Presby handed the watch to her. She opened the case and gazed longat the face of the timepiece. She closed the case with a snap, thenturned to the back, first studying the initials, next trying to open theback case. Bob Stevens assisted her with his pocket knife. The case cameopen suddenly. A slip of paper fluttered to the floor at Bab's feet.
"Oh!" she cried, snatching it up. She started to unfold the paper, thenflushing, handed it to Mr. Presby. He shook his head.
"Look at it, my dear. There need be no secrets here."
Barbara did so, her hands trembling with excitement. A little furrow ofperplexity appeared between the eyebrows. What she saw on the paper wasa crude drawing of a toadstool with a slight point rising from thecentre of the toadstool. In the background was what appeared to be aforest, but so awkwardly drawn that it was not possible to saypositively that a forest was what the artist had intended. Below thepicture of the toadstool was some writing. Stevens held the lanterncloser, at her suggestion. "'The span of a minute is sixty seconds,'"read Barbara Thurston. "Now, what in the world does that mean?"
"I think it was your little golden-haired sister who expressed theopinion that my ancestor was not in his right mind," said Mr. Presby. "Iam inclined to that belief myself. I wash my hands of the whole affair!Come, let us go below. This air here suffocates me."
Bob Stevens took the paper and, holding the lantern in the crook of hisleft arm, studied the bit of paper on his way downstairs, but madenothing out of it.
"I am not certain that it means anything at all, Miss Thurston," hesaid. "Perhaps the girls may discover some meaning. As for myself, Igive it up."
"Thank you," answered Barbara. "I will show it to them. I know it mustmean something, unless--unless the original Mr. Presby were crazy infact."
"I am beginning to think we are all crazy," laughed Stevens.
After having again inquired for Mollie, and shaken hands with Barbaraand Ruth, Bob went home. Barbara had stuffed the slip of paper into thepocket of her blouse on her way to Mollie's room. Mollie now lay wideawake. Her face was pale. There was a livid mark on her forehead, whereshe had come violently in contact with the chimney side on her tumbleinto the hole in the gable floor.
"Oh, Mollie, dear," soothed Bab, throwing her arms about her sister. "Ithad to be you who got the worst of the bump. Were you leaning againstthe wall, too?"
Mollie nodded weakly.
"What ha
ppened?" she asked.
Barbara explained as well as she could from the brief description of thepanel mechanism that Mr. Stevens had given to her, to which Mollielistened wide-eyed.
"You dear 'Automobile Girls,'" cried Ruth. "Will you never stop pickingup horseshoe nails with all four tires?"
"But we manage to wriggle our way through the broken glass, don't we,Molliekins?"
Mollie nodded and smiled. The wind was still howling without. In thepause of conversation the girls listened. Suddenly Ruth sprang up.
"I have forgotten two things," she exclaimed. "I must go out and put thestorm curtains on Mr. A. Bubble and telephone father that Bubble must goto the shop."
"You didn't have another accident?" inquired Barbara anxiously.
"No. I blew up the two rear tires and came in on the rims. Oh, girls, Iwish you might have been along. No, I don't, either. I'm afraid the carwouldn't have stood up under that additional weight. It was great!"
"Did--did you go some?" questioned Mollie.
"Did we? Ask Tom! I'll wager that young man's head is whirling still. Inever thought we should make it, but I was bound not to set back thespark a single notch until I either turned turtle in the ditch or gotMr. Stevens here to help find you, Bab. We made it, didn't we, Tommyboy?" Tom had just entered the room to see what was going on.
"You bet we did," answered Tom.
"Would you like to ride so fast as that another time?" questioned Ruthmerrily.
"Well, maybe in a railroad train," answered Tommy.
"I'll take you out again when the car is repaired," said Ruth.
"Not when I'm awake you won't."
"You say you came home on the rims?" wondered Barbara. "I should havethought it would have crushed them. Yours is a heavy car, Ruth."
"It would have crushed them, only the rims didn't touch the ground tillwe got in the drive here," observed Thomas wisely, whereat the girlslaughed merrily.
Ruth started to go down and put on her storm curtains. Bab ran after herto assist.
"Oh!" cried Barbara, as an icy blast smote her in the face the momentshe stepped out into the open.
"You had better run back and put something over your head," advisedRuth.
For answer, Barbara pulled out her handkerchief, binding this over herhead. The two girls, after no little effort, succeeded in putting thecurtains up, though the wind made their task doubly difficult.Finishing, they ran into the house with benumbed fingers and cheeksaflame. They rushed to the nearest fireplace, to which they pressedclosely until the odor of scorching cloth warned them to beware. Oliveand Grace had come downstairs, for dinner was on the table. A tray hadbeen taken up to Mollie, but she did not care to eat, and had soon afterfallen into a restful doze.
"You haven't told us what you found in that great, deep hole," urgedOlive, after they had been seated for some little time.
"Oh, I forgot," answered Barbara. "Everything has been moving so rapidlythat I haven't had time even to think. I found--I mean Mr. Stevens foundsomething. But I am afraid it doesn't help us much."
"Bob found something?" cried Olive. "Oh, tell us about it."
"Yes, he found a metal box in the chimney. In it there was a watch thatbelonged to your scalped ancestor--I beg your pardon. I shouldn't havesaid that. Your father has the watch. Well, inside the back case was atiny slip of paper with the funniest picture you ever saw. There wassome writing beneath the picture. I'll show it to you. I believe itmeans something, but I can't understand it at all."
"All rubbish," observed Mr. Presby. The master of the house already hadshown the watch to Mrs. Presby, and had explained the manner of itsfinding by young Stevens.
Bab was searching through her pocket for the slip of paper. She had herhandkerchief in her hand, together with some other articles that thepocket had held. Going clear to the bottom, she groped with eagerfingers. Her face grew a shade paler.
"You haven't lost it?" begged Ruth.
"Oh, I am afraid I have!" gasped Barbara, turning her pocket wrong sideout. "I--I must have dropped it in the garret. May I be excused while Igo up to look for it?"
Receiving permission, the girl ran hurriedly up the garret stairs, firsthaving snatched up one of the lanterns. She searched the garret floor,paying especial attention to the spot where they had been standing whendiscussing the find. She found no trace of the missing slip. NextBarbara examined every inch of the stairs, then entered Mollie's room ontip-toe, but with no better success. Every nook and corner where shecould remember to have been on both floors was searched in vain.
"I think I can tell you where you lost it," volunteered Ruth Stuart "Youtook out your handkerchief to put over your head when we were outsidecovering the car. You must have pulled the paper out with thehandkerchief."
"Then I must go outside and look for it," wailed Bab. "I simply mustn'tlose that paper. It may mean everything to you all. Oh, I must find it."
"Silly! You won't find the paper if it has been dropped out of doors. Ona night like this it has probably blown far away," interposed Olive."Don't worry. It isn't worth it. Hunting for the Treasureholme treasurebrings nothing but tears. Forget it all and be your own bright littleself."
Barbara Thurston struggled with her emotions for a few heart-breakingseconds, then burst into tears.
The Automobile Girls at Chicago; Or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds Page 16