  Arden Blake, for a moment, did not know which to attend to first, the strange old woman or the nervous and excited Betty Howe with her gasping declaration of a dead man in the cellar. Then, in a flash, Arden decided if there was a dead man there he must be the missing Jim. And if he were dead he would remain there. Also Arden knew Betty, but she did not know this strange woman who had so suddenly, and seemingly mysteriously, appeared on the scene. “Don’t be afraid, Betty!” Arden told the trembling girl. “We are here with you—the other girls are around in front, and so is the contractor and his men. But who is this—lady?” The strange woman was regarding Arden with malevolent eyes, and her mouth seemed to be muttering words. Betty, who, up to this moment, did not appear to have been aware of the other’s presence, now turned and looked. She showed no surprise. “Oh,” she said in a low voice to Arden, “that is Granny’s cousin, Viney Tucker. She lives with us. I guess Granny didn’t mention her before, because, well—she is a little——” Betty did not need to add the word “queer,” Arden could see that for herself. But there was nothing abnormal about Viney Tucker. She had once been a handsome woman, Arden reasoned, perhaps even more so than Granny Howe. “Cousin Viney helps Granny with the work, as she used to do when we all lived in the Hall,” Betty hurried to say. “But don’t bother about her. She goes and comes as and when she pleases. But the man in the cellar—the dead man. Oh, I was so frightened! What shall we do?” “This probably explains the whole mystery,” said Arden. “What mystery?” “About the missing workman, Jim Danton. Didn’t you hear all the excitement about him, Betty?” “No, I only just got here a few minutes ago. What do you mean about a missing man?” “First tell me,” suggested Arden, “what you were doing in the cellar.” “I was there looking for some old books that were stored down there when we moved out and over to the cottage. I happened to mention them to our librarian the other day, and he suggested that I bring some in for him to examine. He said there might be some valuable volumes among them. So I took a little time off from my work, and I came directly here—with a flashlight.” This was all said in breathless haste. “Yes,” said Arden, “I see you have a flashlight.” “It’s the only way to find things in the cellar—it’s so dark down there with all the lights off now. And if it hadn’t been for my light I wouldn’t have seen the dead man.” She actually leaned against Arden and was trembling still. “Let’s hope he isn’t dead,” suggested Arden. “Come! We must tell the others quickly.” Up to this time Viney Tucker had neither moved nor spoken since her arrival on the scene. She stood at the corner of the house and fairly glared at the girls. Now she exclaimed: “Ha! So there’s a dead man, is there? I knew murder would be done before they finished tearing down our house! I knew it!” “It isn’t murder, Cousin Viney,” said Betty. “Well, there will be murder before this business is finished,” sniffed the old woman. “And I don’t like murder being done in our old house.” “And it isn’t our house any more, Cousin Viney,” said Betty. “That’s just the trouble—we can’t prove it is ours.” “If we could only find the papers! If we could only find the papers!” muttered Viney Tucker as she hurried away in the direction of the cottage. Evidently the excited woman was suffering from the wrongs she, as well as her family, felt had been done them about the Hall. “Now we must hurry!” cried Arden. “This man you think is dead—I’m sure he’s the missing Jim, and he may not be dead at all; he must be looked after. If he’s injured, he’ll need a doctor. Come and tell the others all about it! They’re right out here.” “But I don’t know anything about him,” Betty objected as Arden fairly dragged her around to the front of the house. “You found him—that’s enough!” The conference between the contractor and his men was still on, but Sim and the others seemed on the point of leaving. They had just become aware of the fact that Arden was not in sight when she came into view with Betty. “We’ve found the missing man. Or, rather, Betty did when she went in the cellar after books!” cried Arden all in a breath. Quickly she introduced Betty to her chums. “You mean Jim?” shouted Mr. Callahan. “I think so,” Arden answered. “Come on, men!” cried the contractor leading a rush around to the side cellar door. “But it’ll be dark down there. We’ll need some lanterns. Get one, some of you.” “Take my flashlight,” offered Betty. Mr. Callahan did, fairly snatching it away but begging her pardon a moment later. “You can’t know how upset I am,” he explained. “So many things have happened today and other days. Poor Jim! How in the world did he get down in the cellar? Is he badly hurt, do you think?” “He seemed to be unconscious,” Betty answered. “But I didn’t give more than a look, and I thought he was dead, so I screamed and rushed out.” “And I met her as I was wandering around that way trying to think up some reason for all this,” Arden explained. “Well, we must get help to him quickly if he’s alive!” decided the contractor, and he led his hurrying men while the girls followed. “How long were you in the cellar, Betty?” asked Arden. “Only a few minutes. I couldn’t find the box of books at first. It must have been moved. And then I saw—him!” “And you didn’t hear anything of the search we have been conducting for the last half hour?” asked Sim. “Not the least sound. But then I was away down cellar, and the floors are very heavy.” “And we were searching the upper floors,” said Terry. “Of course you couldn’t hear, Betty.” Up out of the cellar, sliding and slipping on the crumbling stone steps, came the men carrying an apparently lifeless form. They had found it by means of Betty’s electric torch. “Is it the missing man?” called Arden. “Yes, it’s Jim Danton,” someone answered. “Is he—dead?” “We don’t know yet,” said Mr. Callahan. “We’ve got to get him to a doctor pretty quick.” “Well, at any rate,” said Dorothy, “the mystery of the poor man’s disappearance is solved, and I hope he isn’t seriously injured.” One of the men who was standing near the girls turned to answer Dorothy. “That doesn’t explain it,” he said. “Jim was working on the third floor, but how did he get down in that cellar?” |
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