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"There was but one who ever knew the secret of that passage; , told me of him He tried much tofind the entrance to the Castle, and finally under threat he went awayto America He was a base-born and a thief It must be he who has comeback after these years and has told of the secret way Alas! they musthave watched me when I went, all unsuspicious; and so discovered theother secret" Then he tried to explain where the entrance was It wasnot in the chamber where we had expected it would be, but in a narrowcorner of the stair, the whole corner being one stone and for theentrance

When we arrived at Cro for ra that they were on the way tojoin ussie MrsJack ith the detectives and had taken theh the rooms whichMarjory had used They had had up the servants one by one and examinedthem as to what they knew The chief man had insisted on this; he saider The servantswere not told anything, even that Marjory was ; but of coursethey had their suspicions A pereiven that no oneshould leave the house without permission The chief confided tohi about the blackht now, Sir," he concluded "That old lady is just full of sand;and I tell you her head is level She's been thinking of everythingwhich could possibly be of use to us I guess I have heard more ofthis racket within the last half hour than I have done in the last teeks"

By the instructions of Don Bernardino ent into the library I askedMrs Jack to send for laht shortlyIn the meantime I asked that one of the detectives should be sent intothe old chapel and another to the uns ready, and to allow no one to pass at any hazard Toeach before going I explained the secret mode of entry

The Don went over to one of the book-cases--the very section containingthe shelf in which I had replaced the old law book Taking out thatparticular volu There was afaint click He replaced the book and pressed against the bookcase withslow level pressure Very slowly it seee at one side, left an open cavity through which aman could easily pass I was about to rush in, and was quite ready, witha lamp in one hand and a revolver in the other, when the chief of thedetectives laid a restraining hand on my arm as he said:

"Wait a n ould give us a clue!" The wisdoainsaidInstinctively I fell back; two of the trained observers drew close tothe doorway, and holding their laan an exact scrutiny One of the; the other confined his attention to roof andwalls After a silence, lasting perhaps astoodup and said:

"Not a doubt about it! There has been a violent struggle here at thedoorway!"

CHAPTER XLIV

THE VOICE IN THE DUST

One of thedown in shorthandthe rapid utterances of the chief, repeating it so as to check theaccuracy as he went on:

"Easy to see the marks; the floor is deep in dust, and the walls arethick with it On floor, le,of longskirt On walls rasp So marks down the wall others across" The speakerhere raised his lao; then he went on:

"Steps wind doards to right Struggle seems to have stoppedFootmarks more clear" Then the chief turned to us:

"I think gentlemen, we may follow in now The footmarks may bediscri thee" Here I spoke; a thought had beensurging up in er marks on the wall "down and across":

"Stop a moment please! Let e is narrow and they h to formulate which was the symbol of "a" andwhich of "b" The perpendicular strokes were "a" and the horizontal "b"Marjory had kept her head, even at this trying ti I understood why the strugglehad ceased Seized and forced through the narrow doorway, she had atfirst struggled hard Then, when she realised that she could leave aclue behind her, she had evidently agreed to go quietly; for so sheht have her hands free It would be a hard job to carry or forcealong an unwilling captive through that narrow uneven passage; doubtlessthe captors were as willing as she was that she should go quietly Isaid to the detectives:

"These marks on the wall are in a cipher which I can read Give o first"

So, in an orderly procession, leaving two uard the entrance, we passed into the secret passage As I readoff the words written on the wall, thea candle so as to enable hie, marked on the wall onthe inner side whichever way the curves ran Obviously it would createless attention by guiding herself in this wise as she passed She hadkept her hand well down so that her signs should not be confused withthetheht Her sign marks ran continuously,even after we had passed into the passage between the chapel and the ran as follows: