The Slipper Point Mystery

by Augusta Huiell Seaman

  CHAPTER X

  BEHIND THE CEDAR PLANK

  They set out on the following morning. Elaborate preparations had beenmade for the undertaking and, so that they might have ample timeundisturbed, Doris had begged her mother to allow her to picnic for theday with Sally, and not come back to the hotel for luncheon. As Mrs.Craig had come to have quite a high opinion of Sally, her judgment andknowledge of the river and vicinity, she felt no hesitation in trustingDoris to be safe with her.

  Sally had provided the sandwiches and Doris was armed with fruit andcandy and books to amuse Genevieve. In the bow of the boat Sally hadstowed away a number of tools borrowed from her father's boathouse.Altogether, the two girls felt as excited and mysterious andadventurous as could well be imagined.

  "I wish we could have left Genevieve at home," whispered Sally as theywere embarking. "But there's no one to take care of her for all day, soof course it was impossible. But I'm afraid she's going to get awfullytired and restless while we're working."

  "Oh, never you fear!" Doris encouraged her. "I've brought a few newpicture-books and we'll manage to keep her amused somehow."

  Once established in the cave, having settled Genevieve with a book, thegirls set to work in earnest.

  "I'm glad I thought to bring a dozen more candles," said Sally. "We weredown to the end of the last one. Now shall we begin on that corner atthe extreme right-hand away from the door? That's the likeliest place.I'll measure a space around it twenty-one inches square."

  She measured off the space on the floor carefully with a folding ruler,while Doris stood over her watching with critical eyes. Then, havingdrawn the lines with a piece of chalk, Sally proceeded to begin on thesawing operation with one of her father's old and somewhat rusty saws.

  It was a heartbreakingly slow operation. Turn and turn about they workedaway, encouraging each other with cheering remarks. The planks of theold _Anne Arundel_ were very thick and astonishingly tough. At the endof an hour they had but one side of the square sawed through, andGenevieve was beginning to grow fractious. Then they planned it thatwhile one worked, the other should amuse the youngest member of theparty by talking, singing, and showing pictures to her.

  This worked well for a time, and a second side at last was completed. Bythe time they reached the third, however, Genevieve flatly refused toremain in the cave another moment, so it was agreed that one of themshould take her outside while the other remained within and sawed. Thisproved by far the best solution yet, as Genevieve very shortly fellasleep on the warm pine needles. They covered her with a shawl they hadbrought, and then both went back to the undertaking, of which they werenow, unconfessedly, very weary.

  It was shortly after the noon hour when the saw made its way through thefourth side of the square. In a hush of breathless expectation, theylifted the piece of timber, prepared for--who could tell what wondroussecret beneath it?

  The space it left was absolutely empty of the slightest suggestion ofanything remarkable. It revealed the sandy soil of the embankment intowhich the cave was dug, and nothing else whatever. The disgusted silencethat followed Doris was the first to break.

  "Of course, something may be buried down here, but I doubt it awfully.I'm sure we would have seen some sign of it, if this had been the rightcorner. However, give me that trowel, Sally, and we'll dig down a way."She dug for almost a foot into the damp sand, and finally gave it up.

  "How could any one go on digging down in the space of only twenty-oneinches?" she exclaimed in despair. "If one were to dig at all, thespace ought to be much larger. No, this very plainly isn't the rightcorner. Let's go outside and eat our lunch, and then, if we have anycourage left, we can come back and begin on another corner. Personally,I feel as if I should scream, if I had to put my hand to that old sawagain!"

  But a hearty luncheon and a half hour of idling in the sunlight aboveground after it, served to restore their courage and determination.Sally was positive that the corner diagonally opposite was the one mostlikely to yield results, and Doris was inclined to agree with her.Genevieve, however, flatly refused to re-enter the cave so they wereforced to adopt the scheme of the morning, one remaining always outdoorswith her, as they did not dare let her roam around by herself. Sallyvolunteered to take the first shift at the sawing, and after they hadmeasured off the twenty-one inch square in the opposite corner she setto work, while Doris stayed outside with Genevieve.

  Seated with a picture-book open on her lap, and with Genevieve cuddledclose by her side, she was suddenly startled by a muffled, excited cryfrom within the cave. Obviously, something had happened. Springing up,she hurried inside, Genevieve trailing after her. She beheld Sallystanding in the middle of the cave, candle in hand, dishevelled andexcited, pointing to the side of the cave near which she had beenworking.

  "Look, look!" she cried. "What did I tell you?" Doris looked, expectingto see something about the floor in the corner to verify their surmises.The sight that met her eyes was as different as possible from that.

  A part of the wall of the cave, three feet in width and reaching fromtop to bottom had opened and swung inward like a door on its hinges.

  "What _is_ it?" she breathed in a tone of real awe.

  "It's a _door_, just as it looks," explained Sally, "and we never evenguessed it was there. I happened to be leaning against that part of thewall as I sawed, balancing myself against it, and sometimes pushingpretty hard. All of a sudden it gave way, and swung out like that, and Ialmost tumbled in. I was so astonished I hardly knew what had happened!"

  "But what's behind it?" cried Doris, snatching the candle and hurryingforward to investigate. They peered together into the blackness back ofthe newly revealed door, the candle held high above their heads.

  "Why, it's a _tunnel_!" exclaimed Sally. "A great, long tunnel, windingaway. I can't even see how far it goes. Did you ever?"

  The two girls stood looking at each other and at the opening in a mazeof incredulous speculation. Suddenly Sally uttered a satisfied cry.

  "I know! I know, now! We never could think where all the rest of thewood from the _Anne Arundel_ went. It's right here!" It was evidentlytrue. The tunnel had been lined, top and bottom and often at the sides,with the same planking that had lined the cave, and at intervals therewere stout posts supporting the roof of it. Well and solidly had itbeen constructed in that long ago period, else it would never haveremained intact so many years.

  "Doris," said Sally presently, "where do you suppose this leads to?"

  "I haven't the faintest idea," replied her friend, "except that itprobably leads to the treasure or the secret, or whatever it is. Thatmuch I'm certain of now."

  "So am I," agreed Sally, "but, here's the important thing. Are we to goin there and find it?"

  Doris shrank back an instant. "Oh, I don't know!" she faltered. "I'm notsure whether I dare to--or whether Mother would allow me to--if sheknew. It--it _might_ be dangerous. Something might give way and bury usalive."

  "Well, I'll tell you what I'll do," announced Sally courageously. "I'lltake a candle and go in a way by myself and see what it's like. You stayhere with Genevieve, and I'll keep calling back to you, so you needn'tworry about me." Before Doris could argue the question with her, she hadlighted another candle and stepped bravely into the gloom.

  Doris, at the opening, watched her progress nervously, till a turn inthe tunnel hid her from sight.

  "Oh, Sally, do come back!" she called. "I can't stand this suspense!"

  "I'm all right!" Sally shouted back. "After that turn it goes onstraight for the longest way. I can't see the end. But it's perfectlysafe. The planks are as strong as iron yet. There isn't a sign of acave-in. I'm coming back a moment." She presently reappeared.

  "Look here!" she demanded, facing her companion. "Are you game to comewith me? We can bring Genevieve along. It's perfectly safe. If you'renot, you can stay here with her and I'll go by myself. I'm determined tosee the end of this." Her resolution fired Doris. After all, it couldnot be so very dangero
us, since the tunnel seemed in such good repair.Forgetting all else in her enthusiasm, she hastily consented.

  "We must take plenty of candles and matches," declared Sally. "Wewouldn't want to be left in the dark in there. It's lucky I brought alot today. Now, Genevieve, you behave yourself and come along like agood girl, and we'll buy you some lolly-pops when we get back home!"Genevieve was plainly reluctant to add her presence to the undertaking,but, neither, on the other hand, did she wish to be left behind, so shefollowed disapprovingly.

  Each with a candle lit, they stepped down from the floor of the cave andgingerly progressed along the narrow way. Doris determinedly turned hereyes from the slugs and snails and strange insects that could be seen onthe ancient planking, and kept them fastened on Sally's back as she ledthe way. On and on they went, silent, awe-stricken, and wondering.Genevieve whimpered and clung to Doris's skirts, but no one paid anyattention to her, so she was forced to follow on, willy-nilly.

  So far did this strange, underground passage proceed that Dorishalf-whispered: "Is it never going to end, Sally? Ought we to ventureany further?"

  "I'm going to the end!" announced Sally stubbornly. "You can go back ifyou like." And they all went on again in silence.

  At length it was evident that the end was in sight, for the way wassuddenly blocked by a stone wall, apparently, directly across thepassage. They all drew a long breath and approached to examine it moreclosely. It was unmistakably a wall of stones, cemented like thefoundation of a house, and beyond it they could not proceed.

  "What are we going to do now?" demanded Doris.

  "The treasure must be here," said Sally, "and I've found one thing thatopened when you pushed against it. Maybe this is another. Let's try.Perhaps it's behind one of these stones. Look! The plaster seems to beloose around these in the middle." She thrust the weight of her strongyoung arm against it, directing it at the middle stone of three largeones, but without avail. They never moved the fraction of an inch. Thenshe began to push all along the sides where the plaster seemed loose. Atlast she threw her whole weight against it--and was rewarded!

  The three stones swung round, as on a pivot, revealing a space onlylarge enough to crawl through with considerable squeezing.

  "Hurrah! hurrah!" she shouted. "What did I tell you, Doris? There'ssomething else behind here,--another cave, I guess. I'm going through.Are you going to follow?" Handing her candle to Doris, she scrambledthrough the narrow opening. And Doris, now determined to stick atnothing, set both candles on the ground, and pushed the struggling andresisting Genevieve in next. After that, she passed in the candles toSally, who held them while she clambered in herself.

  And, once safely within, they stood and stared about them.

  "Why, Sally," suddenly breathed Doris, "this isn't a cave. It's a_cellar_! Don't you see all the household things lying around? Gardentools, and vegetables and--and all that? Where in the world can we be?"A great light suddenly dawned on her.

  "Sally Carter, what did I tell you? This cellar is Miss Camilla's. Iknow it. I'm _certain_ of it. There's no other house anywhere nearSlipper Point. I _told_ you she knew about that cave!"

  Sally listened, open-mouthed. "It can't be," she faltered. "I'm sure wedidn't come in that direction at all."

  "You can't tell how you're going--underground," retorted Doris."Remember, the tunnel made a turn, too. Oh, Sally! Let's go back atonce, before anything is discovered, and never, never let Miss Camillaor any one know what we've discovered. It's none of our business."

  Sally, now convinced, was about to assent, when Genevieve suddenly brokeinto a loud howl.

  "I won't go back! I won't go back--in that nas'y place!" she announced,at the top of her lungs.

  "Oh, stop her!" whispered Doris. "Do stop her, or Miss Camilla mayhear!" Sally stifled her resisting sister by the simple process ofplacing her hand forcibly over her mouth,--but it was too late. A dooropened at the top of a flight of steps, and Miss Camilla's astoundedface appeared in the opening.

  "What is it? Who is it?" she called, obviously frightened to deathherself at this unprecedented intrusion. Huddled in a corner, they allshrank back for a moment, then Doris stepped boldly forward.

  She led the others up the cellar steps]

  "It's only ourselves, Miss Camilla," she announced. "We have done a verydreadful thing, and we hadn't any right to do it. But, if you'll let uscome upstairs, we'll explain it all, and beg your pardon, and promisenever to speak of it or even think of it again." She led the others upthe cellar steps, and into Miss Camilla's tiny, tidy kitchen. Here,still standing, she explained the whole situation to that lady, who wasstill too overcome with astonishment to utter a word. And she ended herexplanation thus:

  "So you see, we didn't have the slightest idea we were going to end atthis house. But, all the same, we sort of felt that this cave was asecret of yours and that we really hadn't any right to be interferingwith it. But won't you please forgive us, this time, Miss Camilla? Andwe'll really try to forget that it ever existed."

  And then Miss Camilla suddenly found words. "My dear children," shestuttered, "I--I really don't know what you're talking about. I haven'tthe faintest idea what this all means. _I never knew till this minutethat there was anything like a cave or a tunnel connected with thishouse!_"

  And in the astounded silence that followed, the three stood gaping,open-mouthed, at each other.