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While she was speaking a fear grew upon ive her enemies the very opportunity they wanted She saw uessed the cause of it Witha very tender movement she placed her hand on the back ofit held it there firmly as she said:

"Don't be frightened forwith They won't et hold of due respect for President McKinley, they call the Secret Service agentsoftheir plansas yet Perhaps we may have cause to be anxious when that is done; butas yet it's all right Anyhow, my dear, as I knoill make youeasier in your mind, when you are not at hand to protect me, I shall laythe traps whilst you are with ood to my husband, oram I not?" I made her aware in ood! and she let the incident pass unrebuked Even lovers, thoughthey have not the status of the husband, ain

We talked over all the possibilities that we could either of us think ofwith regard to a secret passage between the castle and the monuht have been of theutmost ieht exist Already we had reason to believe that there was a waybetween the ruined chapel and the top of the reservoir hill, and we knewthat there ained from theinterior of the chapel What we had still to discover, and this was themost important of all, hether there was a method of communicationbetween the castle and the chapel After tea we started out together;and as we had arranged between us before starting, o quite round the castle and through rassyalleys between the woods Then, lest there should be any listener, Isaid:

"Let us go into the old chapel I haven't had a good look at it since Ihave been coan to lay ourtraps Of course we could not guard against any one spying upon usThere h soanised spy-hole This we could not help, and had to takeour chances of it; but if anyone ithin ear-shot and unable tosee us, we guarded our history and art Deftly Marjory stretched sections of her gossamerthread from place to place, so that if any one went in the chapel theircourse must be marked by the broken threads We finished near the door,and our artless, innocent, archaeological conversation stopped there,too We strolled back to the castle, feeling sure that if there were anysecret hiding place within the ruin we should have located the entranceto it in the

That afternoon I went to the house at Whinnyfold Most of the thingswhich I had ordered had arrived, and when I had had the various boxesand bundles moved inside I felt able to start on my work

First I rigged up a proper windlass over the hole into the cave; andfixed it so that any one could manipulate it easily and safely fromabove It could be also worked from below by aid of an endless chainround the axle I haes of the hole soht cut the rope; and I fixed candlesand lanterns in various places, so that all the light which ht benecessary could be had easily Then I furnished a rooing She would be sure torequire such, when our search after the treasure should coed at the hotel that asI ht sometimes stay and work in my own home--I was supposed to be anauthor--so, andleft ready for h, it was late in the evening, and I went to the hotel to sleepI had arranged with Marjory to be with her early in the ot up at once and took my ards Crom, for the experience of the day before had shown me thatwhoever used the path near the rey of the dawnAs usual I hid my bicycle and took my way cautiously to the ht; the dew lay heavy, andwhen I cauish the beads which made each thread look like a miniature rope ofdiamonds

Again the strings across the path were broken My heart beat heavilyas I began to follow back towards the ht up to it, on the side away from the castle, andthen stopped The other threads all round thelearned so much, ly I carefully rean to ation of the monumentitself As it was evident that whoever had broken the threads had coht frosomewhere The rock beloas unbroken and the stoneas seelyfixed on the rock itself By a process of exclusions I caht be moveable

Accordingly I began to experiainst it, this way andthat I tried topressure top and bottoan to try to ht be on a pivot At first there was no yielding, no answerof any kind to htth in the sa it in the suspected direction,holding both radually up higher I pursued the saain no response StillI felt I was on the track a

nd began to make efforts in eccentric waysAll at once, whilst I was pressing with h up on the other edge, the whole great stonebegan to h in perfect poise Icontinued the move atof oval form soether surprised; my headkept cool in as to me a wonderful way With an i of the hole should make discovery ofmy presence, I reversed the action; and the stone rolled slowly over toits old position Several tiain, so that I ht become accustomed to its use

For a while I hesitated as to whether I should explore the openingimmediately; but soon cainat once So I went back to my bicycle and took the lamp with me I hadmatches in my case, and as I had the revolver which I always carriednow, I felt equal to any eency I think I was finally influenced ine at once by the remembrance ofMarjory's remark that the kidnappers would make no effort until theirplans were quite coht fear discovery; andon this hope I was strong as I lowered lad to see that there was no difficulty inthestone from the inside; there were two iron handles let into the stonefor the purpose

I cannot say I was at ease in oon; and with a prayer to God for protection, and a loving thought ofMarjory, I went on my way

The passage was doubtless of natural origin, for it was evident thatthe seams in the rock were eological formations joined Art had, however improved theplace wonderfully Where the top had come too low it had been quarriedaway; the remnants still lay adjacent where the cave broadened out Thefloor where the slope was steep was cut into rough steps Altogether,there were signs of e As I wentdown, I kept an eye on the coh idea of the direction in which I was going In theles, led straightdown

When I had got to what I considered nitude which seeround; the passage forked, and at a steep angle anotherpassage, lower and less altered than that along which I had co a few feet up it I could hear the sound ofrunning water

This was evidently the passage to the reservoir

CHAPTER XXXI