The others wondered what the queer find might be, as Sandy and Russ
hurried up the ladder.

As they reached the roof, which at this point was nearly flat, they
saw that the carpenter, in taking off a section, had uncovered what
proved to be a small secret room. It was built into the barn in such
a manner, between false walls, that its existence had never in the
past been suspected.

It was a small place, just large enough to contain a table and a
chair, and there were no openings or windows on the sides. It must
have been a dark place, but there was an old lantern on the table,
showing that the occupant, whoever he had been, was not left in the
gloom.

But there was something else on the table besides the lantern. This
was a large tin box, the sort that valuable papers are usually kept
in, and at the sight of it, as Sandy gazed down into the secret room,
through the hole in the roof, the young farmer cried:

"There it is! There's Uncle Isaac's money box! The lost is found, and
now, if there's only the money and papers in it we'll not lose our
farm after all! The Lord be praised! If only the money is there!"

"You can soon tell!" remarked Russ. "Drop down in there and take a
look."

"What is it? What have you found?" called Mr. Pertell from the
ground. "We want to get the pictures."

"Wait a minute!" Sandy begged. "We've found----"

"Wait, don't tell them yet," suggested Russ. "It won't do to raise
the hopes of the old people, and then disappoint them. The box may be
empty."

"That's right," agreed Sandy. "I'll soon know, though." He hung by
his hands to the edge of the opening, and then dropped down into the
secret room, so strangely revealed.

"The box is locked!" he cried.

"Here's my hatchet--break it open," suggested the carpenter.

"Guess I might as well--no telling where the key would be," said
Sandy. With the hatchet he soon had lifted the cover of the box. Then
he gave a joyful cry.

"It's here!" he shouted. "It was Uncle Isaac's box, all right, and
the money's here--quite a lot of it, and some valuable papers worth
more. Hurray! The farm is saved, after all! Tell pop and mom!"

"No, we'll let you tell them," said Russ. "Come and tell them
yourself."

"How'm I goin' t' git up?" asked Sandy, trembling with excitement and
new hope, as he fingered the dusty bills that would mean so much to
him and his parents.

"Here's a rope," suggested the carpenter, for he had been using one
at his work.