"That is a heavy amount."
"Impossible for us. You know how gladly I would sell even the Manor to raise the money, but I cannot touch a penny of my property until I come of age, and that won"t be for more than four years. I try not to blame Uncle Giles, yet sometimes----"
Here Monica broke down altogether, and wiped her eyes.
"You mustn"t give up hope, my dear child," said the Rector"s wife kindly. "Perhaps your mother may be spared to you after all. Strange things come to pa.s.s sometimes, and good can often result from evil."
"I wish I could believe so," sobbed Monica. "I don"t care in the least about the fortune for myself; I only want it when I think of what it might do for her!"
"Cicely!" said Lindsay solemnly the next morning, as she tied her hair ribbon before the looking-gla.s.s, "we simply must have another try to find that treasure."
Cicely paused with her brush in her hand.
"It"s dreadful that Mrs. Courtenay may die because they can"t sc.r.a.pe together a hundred guineas," she agreed.
"And Monica is breaking her heart over it," continued Lindsay. "She goes about looking so unhappy, it makes me quite miserable too. I"d give everything in the world I have to help her."
"I don"t know where we"re to hunt next. We seem to have explored every corner, and we never have any luck."
Cicely"s voice sounded utterly despondent.
"We can only go to the lantern room again. It"s the one place where we"re sure there"s a secret. If Merle could discover something there, why shouldn"t we?"
It appeared a forlorn hope, but anything was better than just sitting down and making no effort at all. Monica"s troubles weighed much on Lindsay"s mind. The idea that the invalid must slip out of life for lack of the money that might save her seemed too cruel to be endured.
"I wish I had a hundred guineas of my own to give them," she thought sorrowfully. "Oh dear! it"s such a big sum--one might as well wish for the moon. I"m afraid there"s not the slightest chance for poor Mrs.
Courtenay unless the legacy turns up."
It was in rather a dejected mood that the girls betook themselves to the upper landing that afternoon, and once more climbed the now familiar winding staircase. The lantern room looked exactly the same as on their two former visits. There was nothing in it to excite interest or arouse curiosity. A more unromantic chamber could not be conceived.
The window was closed, the rusty firegrate contained only a few ashes, and the door of the cupboard stood open, revealing rows of empty shelves. The one object worthy of notice was the ancient lantern, which hung from a hook in the middle of the ceiling. That, at any rate, was curious. It was of a quaint, medieval pattern, and the sides, instead of being of gla.s.s, were of thin pieces of horn.
"It"s a funny old thing," said Lindsay. "I suppose they used a dip candle for it. I wonder if there"s a piece left in it still?"
She stood on tiptoe, and made an effort to open the lantern, but it was hung too high to allow her to peep inside. Reaching up as best she could, she gave it a jerk, to try to lift it down. Quite suddenly and unexpectedly the lantern and hook descended by a chain from the ceiling.
There was a strange grating sound, and, turning round, the girls saw a sight which made them gasp with amazement.
CHAPTER XIV
The Lantern Room
Lindsay and Cicely might well cry out with surprise. A most peculiar thing had happened. A part of the back of the cupboard had opened like a door, revealing a narrow pa.s.sage behind. Here at last was the hiding-place for which they had sought so long in vain.
They had never suspected the cupboard. It looked so ordinary, with its rows of shelves, that no one would have dreamt it concealed a secret exit. By a clever arrangement the lantern evidently worked a spring, and when pulled down caused the door to unclose automatically. Somebody in days gone by had no doubt constructed it thus to form a refuge in time of danger. The girls were in raptures of delight.
"This, of course, was where Mrs. Wilson vanished," said Lindsay.
"And what Merle saw," added Cicely.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SECRET DOOR]
It was an intense satisfaction to have found it out for themselves, especially when they had come upstairs with such small expectation of success. Where did the pa.s.sage lead? That was naturally the first question they asked each other.
"It looks very dark," said Cicely, peering rather nervously into the opening.
"I wish we had a candle," said Lindsay. "There isn"t even an end left inside the lantern, and we"ve no matches either."
"Shall I go downstairs and fetch some?" suggested Cicely.
"No, no! You might meet "The Griffin" on the way. We"d better explore now, as quickly as we can, while the coast is clear."
It needed a little s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up of courage to plunge into the dim obscurity before them. Lindsay went first, with Cicely clinging particularly closely on to her arm behind. The pa.s.sage seemed to lead along the inside of the wall for about two yards, then took a sharp turn, and ended at the foot of a kind of ladder stairway.
One gleam of light fell from above, as if through some small c.h.i.n.k in the roof, just sufficient to allow them to distinguish their surroundings and enable them to scramble up the rough steps. At the top they found themselves in a huge garret, how big they could not tell, for the corners were completely lost in black nothingness. The floor was thick with dust (such old dust!), and was so worm-eaten and rotten that it felt quite soft and crumbling under their feet.
They were close beneath the tiles, to judge from the rafters overhead.
The air was hot and stifling, and had that stale, mouldy smell noticeable in places long shut up. They began to walk cautiously along, peering on all sides as their eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness.
"It"s just the place for them to have put the treasure," said Cicely.
"If we only had a light!" sighed Lindsay. "I want to go nearer the wall, and see if I can find any heaps of money or silver tankards."
She groped her way a little more boldly across the room, and, putting out her foot, began to feel about.
"Do be careful!" begged Cicely.
It was a most necessary warning. The ancient, rotten boards could not stand the strain of Lindsay"s weight, and down went her leg, making a great hole in the floor. Luckily she was not seriously hurt, only scratched and considerably frightened. With Cicely"s help she managed to extricate herself, and withdrew to the safer middle of the garret.
"The old house must be almost ready to tumble down," she declared.
"Monica said parts of the Manor were very much out of repair," replied Cicely. "Besides, if this is a secret place, no one could ever come up to mend it."
"I wonder where my leg went to?" said Lindsay.
"Perhaps into some room below."
"In that case Mrs. Wilson will notice a hole in the ceiling, and will know somebody has been up here."
It was not an encouraging incident, but they were determined to venture farther all the same.
"We couldn"t think of turning back now," said Lindsay.