“Wh-ew!” Peggy gasped as she looked down over the wall. “It’s so high on this side of the house, you’d break every bone in your body if you fell on these cobblestones!”
“Cut out the dramatics, Peg,” scolded Jo Ann. “I’ll be careful. Tell me if 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—the solving of the mystery.” The next moment Jo Ann was over the edge of the wall.
Peggy watched, breathless, till Jo Ann disappeared; then, throwing herself 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 be dangerous. “It’s lots more dangerous than I realized,” she told herself.
On a level with the window she stopped. Then, while standing in the loop on the end of the rope and clinging tightly to it with one hand, she tried to get a fingerhold in the opening. Unfortunately, on a wall that was over two feet thick and perfectly smooth, it was not possible; moreover, it was exceedingly difficult for her, while clinging to a rope high in the air, to crawl into an opening only two feet high and four feet across. Holding tightly to the rope with both hands, she finally swung her feet into the window, but could get no further. In this half-sitting position her head and shoulders came above the top of the opening.
“To think I’m in the window and yet can’t look inside!” she exclaimed aloud.
“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 all in one piece.”
“What! Give up when I’m this near? I should say not!” Jo Ann’s voice was emphatic.
She began wriggling and twisting more determinedly than ever, and at last, after repeated efforts, she managed to stretch herself across the broad 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 a dank, musty odor.
Her heartbeats quickened as she realized how near she was to solving the mystery. What secret lay concealed within these walls?
Unfastening the flashlight from her belt, she threw its rays around in the darkness. Blank walls, stained with age, loomed before her. As nearly as she could judge, this tiny, high-ceilinged room was only about six by ten feet, and the window in which she lay, about fifteen feet from the floor.
The room appeared perfectly bare. Not an object of any sort was to be seen. For what had it been used? Since it had at one time been connected with the rest of the house, there was bound to have been some reason for its construction.
“Peggy and Florence’ll have the laugh on me if there’s nothing in this room and I’ve had all this work for nothing,” she thought. “There ought to be something to show what it was used for.”
Again casting the rays of her light over every inch of the room, she stopped suddenly on noticing the curious appearance of the floor. One half 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 the flashlight and carefully lowered it down the wall into the room. As the rays shone directly on the floor, she gasped in surprise. The black strip was 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, and I’m roasting.”
Jo Ann kicked her feet in response. Why would Peggy interrupt her at such a time?
By twisting and turning the string she was able to throw the light back and forth along the shaft. Carefully she examined it. There was some object at one end of it, she was sure, but in the dim light she could not distinguish 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 have to 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 through her fingers. Down fell the flashlight to the floor, then rolled over and disappeared down the black hole.
As its rays shone on the sides of the shaft, Jo Ann caught sight of something which made her gasp in surprise. In her excitement she almost fell 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 ejaculated aloud.
Thrilled with delight over what she had discovered, Jo Ann could scarcely wait to share the secret with Peggy and Florence. Things were working out to her entire satisfaction at last.
With the utmost caution she eased herself around on the stone ledge. Nothing must happen now to prevent the further investigation of this mysterious room.
As soon as Jo Ann’s head appeared outside the opening, Peggy called eagerly from the roof, “Jo, did you find anything?”
“Why, of course!” she called back. “Isn’t that what I came for?”
“What is it?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know!”
“Jo, don’t be so mean. Was there a room?”
“I’ll tell you later.” Lying flat on her stomach, Jo Ann reached for the rope.
Getting out of the opening, she found, was much more simple than getting into it. With little difficulty she pulled herself out of the window and slowly climbed to the roof.
“What’d you discover? Tell me, Jo,” pleaded Peggy. “Was it worth the trouble?”
“I should say so. I’ll tell you all about it when we get off the roof. Let’s hurry down before the people begin to stir in the streets.”
“All right. I’m about roasted.”
“I’ve found a real mystery this time,” Jo Ann added as she pulled the rope up over the edge of the roof.
“If you say any more, I’ll die of curiosity before we get off this roof.”
“And I’ll leave you right here, too,” Jo Ann returned lightly. “Before that happens, though, push the rope in that hole a little to loosen it so I can catch hold of the stick with the parasol.”
Obediently Peggy dropped to her knees and began pushing the rope while Jo Ann reached for the other end with the hooked handle of the parasol. After working for several minutes she managed to get hold of the rope and slip the stick out of the knot at the end. Peggy easily pulled the rope through the hole then, and off they started across the roof.
“I’ll have this rope fixed back on the bar in a jiffy now; then we can get off this hot roof,” Jo Ann remarked.
As soon as she had tied the rope on the bar and tested the knot she added, “You first, Peg. You’ve been in the sun longer than I have. Let me help you. It’s a little hard getting over the wall.”
“What do you think I am—a baby?” asked Peggy with injured dignity. “I can do it if you can.”
“Oh, I beg your pardon,” laughed Jo Ann. “When you get down I’ll lower the parasol to you. Be sure to keep a sharp lookout for Dr. Blackwell and Felipe. I don’t dare to let them see me in these knickers—they’d know I’d been up to something unusual. I’m more anxious than ever now to keep our adventures a secret till we solve the whole mystery.”
Peggy nodded assent as she leaned over the wall and looked down. The next moment she exclaimed in surprise, “I wonder where Florence is! I thought she’d surely be waiting for us on the balcony, didn’t you?”
“Yes. She’s probably worried frantic—we’ve been gone so long. Be sure to be as quiet as you can now till you find out whether anyone’s in the office.”
Quietly Peggy slipped over the edge of the wall and down the rope to the balcony. Tiptoeing to the door, she peeped into the office. To her consternation there was Dr. Blackwell dozing in his chair by the desk.
After waving an excited warning to Jo Ann she hesitated a moment, debating whether to stay on the balcony or to slip by Dr. Blackwell and see if Felipe were asleep in his chair by the door.
“If Felipe’s still asleep, I’ll signal Jo to come on,” she told herself.
Softly she crept into the office. When she had almost reached the hall door, Dr. Blackwell suddenly gave a little start and looked around.
“Why, Miss Peggy—I thought you were asleep!” he exclaimed.
“Well—I—I didn’t want to sleep this afternoon,” she stammered. “I’m sorry I disturbed you. Do go on and finish your nap.”
As she hastened out of the room she saw Felipe turn and look at her in surprise.
“He’s wondering where I’ve been—how I got into the office without his seeing me,” she thought. “Poor Jo’s in bad luck again, with both Dr. Blackwell and Felipe awake. I knew we were staying up there too long. I wonder how on earth Florence and I’ll ever manage to get both the doctor and Felipe away from the office long enough to give her a chance to get to her room.”
As she was crossing the hall she met Florence coming from the rear.
The moment they got inside their room Florence asked anxiously, “Where’s Jo—is she all right? I’ve been worried to death over you girls.”
“She’s caught up on the roof again. Your father’s in the office, and she’s scared to come down for fear he’ll ask her some embarrassing questions. Those knickers’d give her away. If I hadn’t had on a dress, I’d have been caught.”
Florence nodded understandingly. “I know he’d be shocked if he saw Jo in knickers. Girls never wear knickers in the city. He’d know she’d been up to something.”
“What’ll we do? We can’t let her stay up there all afternoon. Can’t you think of some plan to get your father and Felipe out of the way a few minutes?”
Florence wrinkled her brows in a thoughtful frown. “I don’t know what to say. Let’s see. The only thing I can think of is to make some coffee and invite Dad to ourmeriendain the dining room.”
“That’s fine, but what about Felipe?”
“We’ll have to decide that later. Come on; we’ll fix the coffee, and by the time it’s ready maybe we can think of something for him to do.”
Hastily they prepared coffee and dainty sandwiches, then went to the office for Dr. Blackwell, who promptly accepted the invitation to themerienda.
“We’ll join you in the dining room in a minute,” Florence told him.
As soon as Dr. Blackwell had left the office and Florence had sent Felipe to the drugstore for some ice cream, Peggy grasped this opportunity to call Jo Ann. She flew to the balcony and whistled softly. The moment Jo Ann’s head appeared over the wall she called, “The coast’s clear. You’ll have to hurry, though.”
Jo Ann needed no urging to get off the roof. She literally dropped to the balcony, drew the rope up and fastened the cord in its accustomed place, then ran to her room.
In an amazingly short time she emerged looking cool and fresh in a soft green dress. Meeting Felipe in the hall with the ice cream, she offered to carry it to the dining room.
When they were almost through their lunch Felipe announced that a patient was waiting to seeel doctor.
The moment Dr. Blackwell was out of hearing Peggy burst out, “Jo, tell us quickly, before anything else happens, what you found in that room.”
“I found plenty. There’s a bigger mystery than we ever dreamed of.”
“Well, tell us—what is it?” insisted Peggy.
“Yes, do hurry, Jo,” added Florence. “I can’t wait another instant.”
“Well, I’ll start at the beginning,” Jo Ann replied. “When I finally got in that window—I had to lie on my stomach to do it—all I could see was a small dark room. There was the odor of decaying wood or something—it smelled old and stale.”
“Oh, do you s’pose they could’ve used that room as a sort of dungeon or cell and left people in there to die?” gasped Peggy, wide-eyed.
“I hardly think so—there wasn’t a thing to suggest that. It was perfectly bare. I thought for a while you girls had the laugh on me this time. I hated to admit I’d gone on a wild-goose chase. I was just about ready to turn around and climb back to the roof when I decided to look again, and then——” She paused dramatically.
Both girls waited breathlessly, then Peggy ejaculated, “Go on! Don’t keep us in suspense any longer.”
“Then I threw the light over the floor again and noticed one half of it was black while the other half was gray. Now what do you suppose that black strip was?”
Peggy and Florence shook their heads. “How do we know?” said Peggy. “Go on.”
“I couldn’t tell either, in the dim light. Then I tied my flashlight on a string and lowered it down as far as possible. That black strip was—a—black—hole!”
“I don’t see anything wonderful about that,” scoffed Peggy.
“Why do you suppose they’d have a hole like that in a house?” put in Florence.
“That’s just what I was wondering,” said Jo Ann. “When the string slipped out of my hand and the light fell bumping down the hole, I——”
“How could it bump down a hole?” broke in Peggy skeptically.
“Well, it did—and that’s what I got so excited about.” She paused again.
“Cut out the dramatics,” Peggy ordered impatiently.
“Now, young lady, if you don’t like the way I’m telling this, I’ll stop right here.” Jo Ann smiled teasingly.
“Oh, do go on,” begged Florence.
“Well, then—as the light bumped over and over, I saw remnants of a crude ladder or steps of some sort. There seemed to be some rough heavy poles—something on the order of that scaffold the workmen used—but it looked as if there were steps between the poles. I couldn’t see very well.”
“But how could there be pieces of wood left in there if this house is as old as you said it was?” demanded Peggy. “It’d all be decayed long ago.”
“Not in this climate,” put in Florence quickly. “Are the doors of the house decayed? You see the air in this country is so dry that things do not deteriorate as they do in the ozone belt.”
“Why should they have a ladder in such a place?” queried Peggy.
“Use your head, Peg,” advised Jo Ann. “You know the door to the hidden room opens right at the end of this dark hall.” She gestured toward the hall. “Think how convenient it’d have been to have a secret passage leading from there!”
“Oh, I see what you mean!” Peggy exclaimed.
“But what would they want a secret passage for?” asked Florence.
“At the time this house was built,” replied Jo Ann, “there were rebellions and wars going on much of the time, and that secret passage may have been the means of escape, or it may have led to a hiding place. I can imagine several reasons why it would have been convenient.”
“Where do you suppose it goes?” Peggy asked curiously.
“I have a very good idea about that right now, but I’ll tell you later. I’m going down there and find out.” Jo Ann tilted her chin at a determined angle.
“Felipe certainly did look funny when you marched in with this big package in your arms,” laughed Peggy as she and Jo Ann entered their room. “He was probably wondering why you hadn’t taken him along to carry it for you.”
“So I noticed. His eyes were big as saucers, and he seemed to be trying to bore through the wrapping paper.” Jo Ann smiled complacently as she removed the paper from the package and took out a coil of rope twice as long as the one she had slipped into the house inside the parasol a few days before. “It seems strange, doesn’t it, to have to carry paper to the market with you to get your package wrapped, as I did this morning.”
Peggy nodded. “It’s a good thing you had that paper in your trunk. How are you going to fix that rope now that you have it—make a rope ladder?”
“No; I’m going to make loops in it as I did in the other piece. This hand-twistedixtlerope—that’s the Mexican name for it—is so wiry that I’d have a time trying to make a ladder out of it. Florence said the Aztecs made this same kind of rope before the Spanish came to this country. It’s so stiff we’ll have no trouble getting our feet into the loops, and it’ll be almost as easy to climb as a ladder.”
With deft fingers Jo Ann began tying the loops in the rough fiber rope.
“It seems to me you’ll have to make lots of loops so you can climb ’way down in that black hole—or shaft, as you call it,” Peggy observed.
“I know that. I’ll have to figure out the depth of the shaft so I’ll be sure to have enough rope to reach that far.”
When Florence came into the room a few minutes later, Jo Ann turned to her and asked, “Do you know how high the first floor of this building is?”
Florence shook her head. “I haven’t the slightest idea.”
“Well, I’ll have to figure it out some way. I can’t afford to get ’way down there in that shaft and find out I haven’t enough rope.”
“Why don’t you talk about whatwe’regoing to do instead ofIall the time?” put in Peggy. “If you think you’re the only one who’s going to explore that shaft, you’re badly mistaken—I’m going too.”
Jo Ann half smiled and answered slowly, “Well—all right—if you aren’t afraid.”
“Afraid! Why should I be afraid, any more than you? I can go anywhere you can. I don’t go around hunting for trouble the way you do, but I don’t lose my head when I get in a tight place. You’ll probably need me, at any rate, if you’re going down in that shaft.”
“That’s true,” Jo Ann admitted.
“Just to prove how helpful I can be,” went on Peggy, “I’ll tell you how to find out the height of the first floor. Drop enough rope from the balcony to touch the street, then pull your rope up and measure it.”
“Good headwork,” approved Jo Ann, to Peggy’s delight. “I—no, we—will do that the first chance we have. Since you were so kind as to solve that problem, I’ll give you a much harder one to figure out. It’s this—how and to what are we going to fasten this rope so we can go down into the shaft? There’s nothing in that room to which we could fasten it.”
Peggy silently considered this puzzle for a few minutes, then said slowly, “I can’t answer that right now, but I’ll keep on thinking till I do.”
Florence, who had been unusually quiet up to now, spoke up encouragingly, “Jo’s always managed so far to do what seemed impossible, and she’ll be sure to find a way to fasten the rope, if you don’t.”
“I hope your prophecy comes true,” Jo Ann said, smiling over at Florence. “I believe I’d better go out and take a look at the back of the house before it gets dark and see if I can’t figure out a way right now. I’m ready to stop, anyway. This rough rope has almost blistered my hands. Don’t you girls want to go with me?”
“I do for one,” Peggy replied quickly. “I’m tired of the house—and it’s lovely outside now. There’s a gorgeous sunset.” She pointed out the window to the rose and gold clouds floating across the azure sky.
“Let’s all go,” agreed Florence.
With one accord the three girls hastened down the stairs.
“Let’s go on out to the Plaza and watch the sunset a few minutes before we go back of the house,” Peggy urged when they reached the door.
The girls nodded assent, and arm in arm they started walking slowly around the square, drinking in the beauty of the slow tropical sunset as they went.
“I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight,” declared Jo Ann as she gazed at the towers of the ancient cathedral and the rugged mountains beyond, outlined against the western sky. “It looks as if golden flames were bursting from each peak and touching everything with gold.”
Just as she had finished speaking, a dark-robed figure moved from the arched gateway of the church and came slowly toward them.
“Isn’t that thepadrecoming from the church, Florence?” Jo Ann asked. Nothing, no matter how beautiful, could keep her mind long from the one thing which had become an obsession with her. “Maybe he can give us some information about the church. Let’s ask him.”
“It won’t hurt to try, of course,” replied Florence, “but I hardly think it’ll do any good.”
They crossed the street and met thepadreon the corner.
“How do you do, Padre Ignacio,” said Florence in Spanish. “May we speak with you a moment?”
“May the Mother of Jesus bless you,” thepadrereplied. As he passed her house several times a day, he knew Florence, although she did not belong to his church. “It will give me the greatest of pleasure to be of assistance to the señoritas.”
“Ask him if he knows anything about the early history of the church,” begged Jo Ann. “You know my Spanish isn’t anything to brag about.”
After introducing Peggy and Jo Ann, Florence carefully explained that these American girls were very much interested in his church on account of its great age, the type of architecture, and its connection with the early history of the city. “This señorita,” she said, placing her hand on Jo Ann’s arm, “is studying the history of our city and is eager to get all the information she can on the subject, and we would appreciate it very much if you could tell us anything that will be of assistance in making this study.”
Thepadrelistened attentively until Florence had finished, then shook his head and replied, “I am very sorry, my dear young ladies, that I cannot help you, but I have been in this part of the country only a few years—only since the change in government, when the priests and teachers of God were expelled. Ah,Madre de Dios, but that was bad, very bad!” he added sorrowfully, shaking his head. “It pains me greatly not to be able to help you but, though I feel very much honored that you are interested in my humble church, I know nothing about its early history.”
“We thank you very much, Padre,” replied Florence. “We shall come over to visit your church again. Amuy buenas tardes[a very good afternoon],” she added, and Peggy and Jo Ann echoed, “buenas tardes.”
“Buenas tardes, señoritas.” With a bow thepadrecontinued on his way.
“Too bad we couldn’t get any help from him,” Jo Ann remarked after he had passed out of hearing distance. “It certainly is hard to find out anything about that old church. Let’s go now and look at the back of the house and try to figure out a way to fasten the rope.”
They crossed the street and stood gazing intently at the back wall of the house.
“It looks as if we’ll have to tie the rope to the iron bars of that window in the back room,” declared Jo Ann finally. “You see the top of it is almost on a level with that narrow opening that we’ve been calling the mysterious window.”
“But how’re you going to get the rope from that back window to the opening?” queried Florence.
“Oh, Jo thinks she’s a fly or a scorpion and can crawl across the wall,” cut in Peggy.
Ignoring Peggy’s remark, Jo Ann continued, “We’ll fasten the rope securely to the iron bars in that window; then I’ll drop down to the opening as I did before. I believe by sticking my fingers in the crevices of the rough plaster I can pull myself across the wall near enough to the window to catch hold of the rope.”
“It’s mighty high up there,” said Florence, “and that looks like a difficult thing to do.”
“Those bars are absolutely the only thing to which it can be fastened,” replied Jo Ann. “By standing in the loop on the end of the rope it won’t be as difficult as it looks.”
“Come on; it’s almost dark, and we can’t stand here on the street any longer,” said Florence. “Dad may be waiting for us to come to dinner, and he’ll be worried.”
“Listen! Why can’t we explore the mysterious shaft tonight?” Jo Ann exclaimed suddenly. “It won’t take long to tie the rest of the loops and test the knots. Everything else is ready—the flashlights and all.”
“Tonight!” gasped Florence, whether in consternation or surprise, Jo Ann could not decide.
“Yes, tonight. There’s a full moon—it’ll be as bright as day out, and I’m afraid if we wait something’ll happen to spoil the whole thing. I’d just die if I didn’t get to carry this out.”
“But why at night?” asked Peggy as they climbed the stairs.
“Well, why not?” returned Jo Ann. “It won’t be any darker in that shaft at night than in the daytime. You couldn’t see your hand before your face down there right in the middle of the day. We’ll carry our flashlights. I got some more batteries and an extra globe for the one I dropped. I thought we might need an extra one—that is, if that flashlight isn’t smashed all to pieces.”
“I wish I could go too,” said Florence tentatively.
Jo Ann and Peggy exchanged swift glances, but neither offered one word of encouragement to Florence.
Surprised at this request and not knowing how to answer it, Jo Ann and Peggy were silent as they sat on the balcony waiting the call to dinner. Lights like fireflies flashed here and there as darkness settled over the city, and a slight breeze, heavy with the scent of orange blossoms, stirred the trees across the way.
Florence finally broke the silence. “Can’t I go with you and Peggy, Jo Ann? I’d be careful.”
Jo Ann and Peggy were thankful at that moment for the darkness. Florence must not see the look of dismay on their faces. How could they refuse to let her go with them when it was her house?—and yet both felt that they dared not.
“Peggy, ask her to let me go,” Florence begged when Jo Ann did not answer.
“Florence—you see,” began Jo Ann slowly, “it’ll be rather dangerous, and your father’d never forgive us if anything should happen to you.”
“We’ve had lots more experience climbing than you have,” added Peggy.
“I know, but I can climb that rope,” Florence put in coaxingly. “I’ve tried it.”
“Why, Florence, you shouldn’t have tried it alone!” exclaimed Jo Ann. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I didn’t want you to know till I found out whether I could do it. I’ve wanted so much to do the things you girls do, but I knew it wouldn’t be safe to go down in that shaft without some practice climbing a rope. I feel sure I can climb down there now.”
“I can’t picture you as a tomboy climbing on top of the house,” put in Peggy, smiling.
“And here I’ve been thinking all the time that you were terribly shocked at our behavior,” added Jo Ann.
Florence shook her head. “Not shocked—just envious. I’ve been practicing going up and down that rope every morning before you girls were out of bed. I can do it easily now. You know last summer at camp I got so I could climb mountains as well as the rest of the girls, after I’d had a little experience.”
“You’re a plucky little rascal,” praised Jo Ann. “If she wants to go with us that badly, we’ll have to let her go, won’t we, Peggy?”
Peggy nodded an emphatic assent.
After they had gone to their room that night, the girls continued to talk over their plans for exploring the mysterious black shaft.
“If we’re going to get the benefit of the full moon, we’ll have to go down into the shaft in the next two or three nights, so we might as well go down tomorrow night,” Jo Ann said earnestly. “What do you say to our going tomorrow night?”
Florence and Peggy exchanged excited glances, then replied in unison, “All right.”
The next morning they set to work early to get everything ready for their great adventure.
So it was that just as the bells in the cathedral tower finished chiming the midnight hour, three lithe, knicker-clad figures crept one by one up on the roof and over near the chimney.
“We’ll have to wait a little while,” said Jo Ann, low-voiced. “The moon isn’t up far enough yet for it to throw much light on the rear of the house. I can’t get the other coil of rope out of that back window without more light.” She placed her gloves, flashlight, and rope on the roof beside her, the other girls following her example.
“I’m glad we have to wait,” Florence remarked. “It’s lovely up here in the moonlight. Wouldn’t this be a wonderful place for a roof garden? We could come up here and enjoy it every——”
“Listen!” broke in Peggy with her finger to her lips. “I hear music!”
Obediently Florence and Jo Ann stopped talking to listen.
“Acaballeroserenading his lady love,” Florence explained in reply to Peggy’s questioning look.
The next moment Peggy began swaying to the rhythm of the music like a graceful willow tree in the breeze; then catching Florence by the arm, she danced her lightly across the roof.
When they neared Jo Ann again, she called to them softly, “Better not make so much noise!”
“No one’d ever dream of looking up here,” Peggy murmured over her shoulder, dancing away and not stopping till the music ended.
The spell being broken then, the three girls clambered to the top of the wall and sat there for several minutes looking down on the city below. In the brilliant tropical moonlight the winding gray paths and dark shadowy trees and shrubbery of the Plaza were silhouetted against the white-walled buildings beyond. High above all, like a sentinel on guard over the sleeping city, rose the bell tower of the cathedral.
They were still gazing at this enchanting, etching-like picture when the chimes rang out again.
Jo Ann gave a little start. “I didn’t realize we’d been sitting here so long. This moonlight’s cast a spell over me—I’d almost forgotten what we came up here for. I’m going over now to see if there’s enough light shining on that back wall for me to get the rope that we fastened to the iron bars of the window.”
She sprang down lightly and crossed the roof. One glance showed her that she still had a few minutes to wait before the rays of the moon would light the back window. As she stood looking out over the rear wall of the church, her gaze traveled on past the adobe huts toward the river.
“The moonlight has worked magic,” she thought in surprise. “It has changed that ugly district into a thing of beauty; those dirty adobe huts look white and shining, and that muddy river, silvery and peaceful. If only something could transform the lives of the people who live there the same way! I wish there were something I could do to help them.”
She shook herself slightly. “It won’t do any good to stand here dreaming about it,” she said aloud, then turned and called softly to the girls, “Come on. It’s light enough now for me to see to get that rope.”
While she had been talking she had fastened her flashlight to her belt and slipped on a pair of heavy gloves to protect her hands from the scratchy fiber rope. That done, she lowered herself over the wall and slipped down till her feet reached the loop on the end; then holding the rope firmly under one arm, she dug her fingers into the rough plaster and moved slowly across the wall. When she had almost reached the window, her hands slipped. Like the pendulum of a huge clock, she swung back and forth, clinging tightly to the rope. Simultaneously there was the sting of fire across her shoulder and arm. Glancing around, she saw that her shirt was torn and blood was oozing from her shoulder.
“What’s a little thing like that?” she thought. “There’s no time to bother with it now.” Maybe if she’d take off her gloves, she could reach the window. Jerking them off, she tried again and again to get a fingerhold in the wall to pull herself across, but without success.
“It’s not as simple as I thought,” she told herself, wondering what to do next.
Hearing a soft whistle just then, she glanced up where Peggy and Florence were watching from the roof. Peggy was gesturing excitedly as if she were trying to tell her what to do. What could she mean?
The next moment she felt the end of the heavy cord dangling in her face, and immediately she understood. She grasped the cord and fastened it securely to the rope to which she was clinging; then with Peggy and Florence pulling on the cord from the roof, she found it easy to move across the wall. There was no danger of slipping now. Having braced herself with one foot between the iron bars of the window, she unwound the coil of rope which she had fastened there from the inside earlier in the evening. After testing it to see that the end was securely fastened to the bars, she whistled softly to the girls. At once the cord slackened, and she swung slowly back with the end of the long, knotted rope in her hand.
On reaching the narrow window she pitched the rope through, then wriggled herself onto the ledge. After turning on her stomach she had both hands free to unfasten her flashlight.
Anxiously then she waited for Florence to descend. By having her come between them she and Peggy felt they could look after her better. But now, to her amazement, she saw that Florence was fully capable of looking after herself. She was climbing down slowly and cautiously, but not timidly.
Since the narrow window was very small and would hold only one, Jo Ann knew she must hurry to get out of it. After a hasty examination of the room below, she lowered herself to the floor, careful to avoid falling into the open shaft which extended completely across one end.
The moment she touched the floor she flashed the light upward so as to help Florence and Peggy in their descent. In a few more moments they were standing safely beside her.
“What a strange place!” Peggy said, then added quickly in a whisper, “I’ll wake Dr. Blackwell at this rate.”
“No; talk as loud as you like,” replied Jo Ann. “These walls are so thick I believe you could yell down here without his hearing you.”
The girls stared at Jo Ann in amazement. It seemed incredible—uncanny—that they could be within a few feet of home and Dr. Blackwell, and yet he could not hear them.
With the aid of their flashlights they examined the room from top to bottom, only to find that except for the rough outlines of the sealed doorway, it was bare and uninteresting. Half fearfully, then, they stared down into the shaft. In the surrounding darkness the old ladder looked white and ghostlike.
“Why do you suppose they sealed up that door instead of closing up this hole?” queried Peggy curiously.
“Because it was much easier to close up the door,” replied Jo Ann. “It’d be hard to conceal as large an opening as this in a cement floor. I have an idea that the door was sealed up in a hurry to prevent the discovery of this secret passage. Let’s see where it leads. Shine your lights over this way so I can see,” she ordered, climbing over the edge of the floor.
Slowly she made her way down the rope into the shaft. Now and then she stopped to kick off a loose step or a jagged splinter from the old ladder lest it should injure Florence and Peggy, who would follow in a moment.
Suddenly she gave a little shriek. There to one side of the shaft yawned the mouth of a low, tunnel-like opening. “O-oh, hurry, girls!” she cried excitedly.
“What’s the matter?” called Peggy in alarm. “Are you hurt? Be there in a minute,” she added as she started down the rope.
“I’m not hurt, but I’ve found something important,” Jo Ann called back.
In a surprisingly short time both Peggy and Florence had dropped down to the bottom of the shaft beside Jo Ann. With eyes straining to penetrate the darkness, the girls peered into the tunnel.
“Come on, let’s go inside,” urged Jo Ann. Even as she was speaking, she stooped and entered the low, narrow tunnel.
Obediently Peggy and Florence followed at her heels. No sooner had they entered than they began coughing and choking.
“Don’t touch the——” Florence stopped in the middle of her warning to sneeze loudly; at the same moment such a violent attack of coughing seized Peggy that she leaned against the wall.
“Don’t lean against—that wall!” gasped Florence, catching her by the arm. “Whenever you do”—she stopped to sneeze again—“it stirs up a fine dust. See!” she added, rubbing her finger over the wall. In the rays of the lights they could see a fine white powder which had formed on the crumbling stones. “The air’s very dry, and the least movement sets the powder in motion.”
Careful to avoid touching the walls or making a sudden motion that would stir up the dust, they began examining their surroundings. Before them as far as they could see stretched the dark passageway, part of its walls having apparently been cut through natural stone, while the other part had been lined with blocks of limestone. It was the dust from these limestone blocks which had choked them, Florence noticed.
After they had walked a short distance the opening broadened and was much higher. It was easy to avoid touching the walls now, and even Jo Ann could stand without bumping her head. With Jo Ann still in the lead they walked slowly in single file down the passage. All along the way they kept flashing their lights on the walls and ceiling and floor, watching carefully lest they overlook something.