don't; I'd have
to see it to believe it myself."

The attic was large and many cornered, with a sharply slanted roof,
shading tiny, many-paned dormer windows. There were the regulation
cobwebs, that hung in attractive festoons from the rafters. These, with
the quantities of discarded but beautiful old furniture, scattered about
in picturesque confusion, formed an effective background for Lucile's
detective work.

She groped her way over every inch of the wall, sometimes getting down on
her knees, trying to persuade herself she really hoped to find a spring
that would release something hidden--she didn't care much what it was,
but it must be hidden. However, after she had convinced herself that
there was not a square inch of space she had not investigated, she rose
to her feet reluctantly, feeling as though she had been cheated.

"Horrid old thing!" she murmured, dusting the cobwebs from her hands.
"You look so nice and interesting and mysterious just on purpose to
discourage promising young sleuths like me. I wish I hadn't given you the
satisfaction of bothering with you," and she leaned against the wall in
utter disgust.

Thus does fortune, in the very hour of our despair, place in our hands
the thing for which we have been so hopelessly searching. Even as her
elbow touched the panel behind her there came a sharp click and before
Lucile's startled gaze a small, square door opened slowly and
deliberately, trembled, seemed to hesitate, and then came to a full stop,
leaving its shallow interior exposed to view.

It was not till then, when she stood, open-mouthed and open-eyed, staring
dumbly at this apparition, that she realized how little she had really
expected it to happen.

"Well, I'm not dreaming, that's one sure thing," she murmured,
approaching the little opening with extreme caution, while chills of
alternate fear and excitement coursed all over her. "It seems so weird
and ghostly to see that thing open all by itself, with nothing to help it
along! Ghosts or not, I'm going to see what's there," and, strengthened
by this resolve, she started to place her hand in the opening, but drew
it back quickly with a frightened gasp.

"You're a coward," she accused herself, angrily. "Any one would think you
had touched a snake. If you don't hurry up, Jeanette will be here and
spoil everything. I think she's coming now," and spurred on by the sound
of approaching footsteps, she reached in and drew forth a long,
rolle