Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Lost Key Read online

  CHAPTER XIII The Secret Stairs

  Ten minutes of unrewarded search convinced Penny that they were onlywasting their time in attempting to locate the hidden spring without alight.

  "Let's follow the steps down and see where they lead," she suggested."Surely there must be another exit."

  Rosanna permitted Penny to lead her down the steep flight of stairs. Theypresently reached the bottom. It was too dark to see very much but byfeeling along the damp stone wall they discovered that they were in anarrow passageway. As they moved cautiously forward a breath of cold airstruck Penny's face.

  "This must be the way to the exit," she declared cheerfully. "We'll soonbe out of here now."

  "It can't be too soon for me," Rosanna chattered.

  Hand in hand they groped their way along the subterranean passage. Soonthey came to the end of it but instead of an exit they found anotherflight of steps leading downward at a steep angle.

  "Careful or you'll fall," Penny warned as they began the treacherousdescent. "Some of the stones are loose."

  "I wish we had a light," Rosanna complained. "Where do you suppose we'regoing anyway?"

  "Maybe to the center of the earth," Penny chuckled. "It seems like itanyway."

  "Unless I'm mixed up in my directions we're moving toward the lake."

  "It seems that way to me too," Penny readily agreed. "But we've twistedand turned so many times I couldn't be sure of anything."

  By this time the girls were convinced that they were underground for theyhad made a long, straight descent. The walls were moist and damp; the airchilly. Yet one thing puzzled them. If they actually were travelingtoward the lake that meant that the tunnel had been bored into the sideof the cliff. But such a feat obviously was nothing less than anengineering enterprise.

  At length the girls reached the bottom of the second flight of stairsonly to find themselves in another passageway. It was much larger thanthe other and lighter.

  "Do you think we could be in an abandoned ore mine?" Penny suddenlydemanded, pausing to inspect the walls.

  "It does look a little like it. Only I never heard of stone steps in amine."

  "No, they have shafts. But it strikes me that the steps may have beenadded later, if you noticed, the upper passage was much smaller than thisone."

  "As if it had been dug out to join with this one," Rosanna added eagerly.

  "Exactly. It's my theory that some person knew about this old mine anddecided to connect it with a smaller tunnel which would lead up into thehouse."

  "But who do you suppose conceived such a plan?"

  "I can't answer that one," Penny laughed. "But come on, let's see if wearen't approaching the exit."

  Eagerly they moved forward, guided by the streak of light. A minute laterPenny who was in the lead, gave a joyous shout.

  "We've come to the end of it! I can see trees!"

  "Thank goodness," Rosanna sighed in relief. "I was afraid we'd never getout alive."

  Penny parted the bushes which barred the exit and they peered out.

  "You were right, Rosanna. We did travel toward the lake. We're almost init for that matter!"

  The water came within a few yards of the entrance and during a storm thegirls imagined that it must flood the lower passageway. Penny noticed arowboat tied up in a clump of bushes.

  "I suppose that's how our ghost makes his quick get-away," Penny remarkeddryly.

  "We might take a ride on the lake," Rosanna proposed.

  "Don't you think it might advertise that we've discovered this tunnel?Especially if the ghost should happen to see us using his boat."

  "Of course, I didn't stop to think. Oh, Penny if only we knew theidentity of this person who annoys the household!"

  "It shouldn't be so hard to learn it now," Penny declared insatisfaction. "At night we'll station ourselves here by the mouth of thetunnel and watch."

  "It wouldn't surprise me if it should turn out to be Max Laponi," Rosannaremarked. "He never seems to be in his room at night."

  Penny offered no response.

  Fearing that their long absence from the house might have arousedsuspicion, the girls hurriedly left the scene. They found a trail whichwound along the base of the cliff and which presently took them towardthe house on the hill.

  As they passed the Eckert cabin they saw the old man cleaning fish by theback door. They greeted him perfunctorily and would have walked on had henot seemed in a mood to talk.

  "Out early this morning, aren't you?" he questioned.

  "Yes, we were down by the lake," Penny answered.

  "You must have crawled out of bed before the sun was up. I've beencleaning fish here all morning and I didn't see you go past."

  "We went around a different way," Penny answered, and then before hecould ask another question, interposed one of her own. "By the way, doyou know where I could get a picture of Jacob Winters?"

  Old Caleb dropped his fish knife. It took him a long time to recover itfrom the ground.

  "What do you want of a picture?" he questioned gruffly.

  "Oh, I just need it," Penny said evasively.

  "I'd like to have one myself," Rosanna added sincerely. "I never had aphoto of my uncle."

  "If you find he's cut you out of all his property I guess you probablywon't be so anxious to have a picture of the old cod," Caleb observed.

  Rosanna drew herself up proudly.

  "It wouldn't make the slightest difference, Mr. Eckert. After all, myuncle never saw me so why should he have left me any of his money? Yousay such disagreeable things!"

  "I'm a disagreeable old man," Caleb admitted cheerfully, "but my bark isworse than my bite."

  "Well, please don't call my uncle names," Rosanna went on with spirit.

  "Names?"

  "You spoke of Uncle Jacob as an old cod. I don't like it a bit."

  Old Caleb was startled by the outburst. But his eyes twinkled as hereplied soberly:

  "Well, now, Miss Rosanna, I didn't mean to offend you or to speakdisrespectfully of Jacob either. It was just my way of talking."

  "Then I'll forgive you," Rosanna smiled.

  The girls were on the verge of moving off when Caleb checked them with aquestion.

  "You haven't heard Mrs. Leeds or that Laponi fellow say anything aboutleaving have you?"

  "I don't believe they intend to go unless they're put out," Pennyresponded. "I heard Mrs. Leeds say the other day that she had sent forher lawyer."

  "They stick tighter than cockle burs," Caleb commented. "If only I hadthe right, I would send them both packing. Especially that Max Laponi. Idon't trust him."

  "Neither do I," Penny agreed promptly. "That's why I think you should tryto help me clear up this dreadful muddle."

  "What can I do? I have no authority."

  "It will help if you can find me a photograph of Mr. Winters."

  Caleb's face puckered into troubled wrinkles.

  "It's too late," he muttered under his breath. "It wouldn't do any good."

  "What was that you said?" Penny questioned sharply.

  "Nothing. I was just talking to myself. About the picture. I'll see whatI can do. Don't count much on getting it though because I doubt if I canlocate one for you."

  The girls chatted a few minutes longer but Caleb was not very goodcompany. He responded briefly if at all to their conversational salliesand for the most part seemed lost in thought. They soon left him to hisfish cleaning and went on toward the house.

  "I wonder what got into him all at once?" Rosanna mused. "Perhaps he wasoffended at the way I spoke to him."

  "I don't think he gave it a second thought," Penny responded. "I suspectCaleb rather likes to have folks talk up to him. No, I'm sure it wasn'tanything you said that annoyed him. Likely enough it was my request forMr. Winters' photograph."

  "Why should that bother him?"

  "That's what I'd like to know. Caleb is a queer one to say the least."

 
"Do you think he'll ever produce the photo?"

  Penny laughed shortly.

  "It would be a great surprise to me if he did. And yet from the way heacted, I'm convinced he could get me one if he chose. Like as not he hasone in his cabin now."

  Penny lapsed into a moody silence. From the day of her arrival at RavenRidge she had sensed old Caleb's reluctance to help her. While she couldnot say that he was exactly unfriendly he had made no positive move ofassistance. She had believed for a long time that he knew a great dealmore than he would tell regarding Jacob Winters' absence.

  The girls entered the house by a side door. They noticed that Mrs. Leeds'car no longer stood on the driveway and took it for granted that she andher daughter had driven to Andover as was their daily custom.

  They glanced casually into the library and noticed that it was empty.However, Penny's keen eyes traveled to the desk. She observed that theink bottle had been left uncorked and that a pen had been removed fromits holder.

  "I wonder what Mrs. Leeds and Laponi were up to?" she speculated. "Oh,well, I'll probably find out soon enough."

  "I believe I'll go upstairs for a few minutes," Rosanna excused herself."I haven't straightened my things yet this morning."

  Left alone, Penny crossed over to the desk and examined the paper in thewastebasket. She looked closely at the blotter, even holding it to themirror, but it had been used so many times that the words which appearedupon it could not be read. There was not a scrap of evidence to show whatMrs. Leeds and Max Laponi had been writing.

  In disappointment Penny picked up a book and sat down to read. Presentlyshe heard soft steps in the hallway but paid slight attention thinkingthat it was Rosanna.

  She was on the verge of calling her friend's name when she thought betterof it. The sound of the footsteps told her that the person had gone intothe living room. And by this time she was convinced that it was notRosanna.

  She waited, listening. She heard a faint metallic click which caused herto lay aside her book and quietly steal to the doorway of the livingroom.

  Max Laponi stood with his back toward her, so absorbed in what he wasabout that he had not the slightest suspicion that he was being observed.

  Penny saw him carefully remove the oil painting from the wall. He deftlyopened the panel, exposing the safe. Then, with a sureness of touch whichamazed Penny, he began to spin the dials.