Discovery

Ken was saying, “It is rather strange that somebody should have been in that house when it is supposed to be empty and deserted.”

“But why?” demanded Paul. “Being empty and unoccupied, anybody might walk in and look around.”

“Very true,” commented Jack, “but why should he sock me, that’s something I can’t understand.” He put his hand behind his head and winced with pain. “Suppose,” he continued, “some person does stray into the house and while he is there I enter. Does that mean that he has to bang me on the head and run away? It is not logical. There must be something to it.”

“You may be right,” conceded Paul, “but somehow it doesn’t strike me so. By the way, did I tell you fellows how I ran into Captain Bob last night and almost scared him to death?”

“No,” cried Ken. “Tell us.”

Paul narrated his last night’s adventure. The boys laughed heartily at the thought of Captain Bob being scared out of his wits. He also told them that the captain had also had the same hunch as he. Then he asked, “What do you fellows think of it?”

Jack merely shrugged his shoulders, manifesting his lack of opinion. Ken, however, said, “It sounds quite logical to me.”

“Logic does not always prove anything,” remarked Paul.

Jack jumped out of his seat and snapped his fingers. “I have an idea,” he cried.

“Tell us,” said Ken.

“What is it?” asked Paul.

“It is something I couldn’t exactly explain; it’s just something I feel—a hunch. Come on, we’re going back to that empty house.”

“But what for?” demanded Paul. “We have been there several times and we have found no clues or anything.”

“Well, we’re going back and look again.”

Jack disappeared into the house and a minute later came out carrying his flashlight and as baseball bat. “What is the bat for?” asked Ken.

“Just in case of anything,” was the answer. “I’m not taking chances any more.”

The boys rocked with laughter, Jack joining in. “You think you’re going to hit somebody with that thing?” questioned Ken, still laughing.

“I suppose the fellow who hit you is waiting there for you to even things up,” commented Paul.

“You fellows can laugh all you want,” said Jack, “but I’m taking it along just the same. Come on.”

They were on their way. Jack said, “Paul, you and I are going into the house, while you, Ken, are going to hide outside and give us the usual signal in case you see somebody suspicious coming up the street or about to enter the house.”

“And what are we going to do?” asked Paul.

“You and I are going into that first room and investigate. If there is anything to be found, somehow I feel convinced that it will be found in that room. I have only one reason for it. When I was hit on the head I had my back to that door. Therefore the person who hit me came out of that room.”

“That sounds reasonable,” remarked Paul. “But I, on the contrary, have no illusions about finding any clues there. It seems to me that we went over every inch of ground in that room.”

“You are wrong, Paul,” contradicted Jack. “All we did was merely look around. We did not make a real search of the room.”

The boys came to the house. All three of them made sure of a good location for Ken to hide and keep watch. When that was done, Paul and Jack entered the house and closed the door behind them. “Now,” whispered Jack, “Let’s open the door of this first room and examine it.” Jack did so and swung the door back and forth on its hinges. “Notice something?” he asked his chum.

“I most certainly do, Jack. This is very suspicious.”

“What is it you notice?” asked Jack.

“Why, the movement of the door swinging on its hinges; it’s noiseless. Isn’t that what you mean?”

“Yes. The hinges must be well oiled and that is why I did not hear when the door was opened and I was hit on the head. Under normal circumstances, the hinges should be rusty and there should be plenty of squeaking every time the door is swung open.”

“You are right, Jack. But I still don’t see what your hunch is.”

“Let’s just wait and see. I don’t know exactly what it is myself yet. I can only make a wild guess. Let’s go into the room.”

They entered and closed the door behind them. They had no use for their flashlights because the room had a window in each corner wall, and it was now early morning, about ten o’clock. “Notice another thing,” remarked Jack. “The windows—they are all in perfect shape.”

“That’s right, but that is nothing extraordinary. It is possible that the last tenant had moved out only recently.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter so much. Shall we first thoroughly go over the walls or the floor?”

Paul looked about for several seconds before he answered. “I think we had better do the floor first.” They looked down. “You know,” continued Paul, “I am somehow beginning to get a hunch like you have. I can’t exactly explain it, but—”

Jack interrupted, crying enthusiastically, “Do you really mean that? Because then—”

Paul held up a finger to his lips and cautioned, “Sh! Not so loud. Walls have ears, you know, and all that.” Both of them crouched down. “Do you notice something odd about the dust on the floor?” he asked.

“Yes,” replied Jack. “I noticed it the first time we were here but I forgot to mention it. There seems to be very little dust on this floor compared to the other rooms.”

“That is right. Now you begin at the other end of the room and I will begin at this end of the room. Examine every single plank of wood and see if it lifts out of the floor.”

“That was my intention exactly,” whispered Jack. “You are getting on to my hunch perfectly.”

Paul by now had become excited with the new turn of events and he was eager to be doing something. “Less talk and more work,” he snapped at his friend briskly.

Jack smiled and moved away to his end of the floor. The boys partitioned the floor in half and set to work with zest. They ran their hands over the floor and tested each plank. Despite their eagerness and rapid movements, it took them a long time. The two of them must have been working close to an hour, and Paul was occupied now in front of the window when he hissed across the room, “Jack, I have it!”

Paul flushed with excitement. Jack raced across the room and joined his friend. Paul had discovered a removable piece of wood about six inches long by about three inches wide. He held it up in his hand. “Now!” he whispered. He plunged his hand into the opening and pulled. But too much effort was not necessary, the trap door opened easily. Jack was ready to rush right down, but Paul, ever prudent and careful, grabbed him by the arm and restrained him. “Wait a moment,” he whispered. “Let’s make sure of things.”

Paul went to the window and peeked out. He located Ken and saw the boy on guard, his eyes roaming everywhere and on the alert. Jack had in the meanwhile gone out into the hall. Paul now joined him and together they looked through the house to make sure whether anyone was in there or was watching them. Reassured at last, they returned to the room and again pulled up the trap door. There were stairs leading down, but it was dark below and Jack flashed on his light. From every appearance it looked like an ordinary cellar. Paul whispered, “All right, let’s go down. I’ll go first.”

Jack nodded and his chum began to descend the stairs. He followed, gripping his bat in his hand. Becoming conscious of the weapon, he smiled to himself remembering how his friends joked at his taking it along. Now, in case of anything, it would be very useful.

Paul, who carried the flashlight, reached the bottom of the stairs and waited for his chum. Jack joined him. Together they followed the beam of light around the room. At one side was a printing press and quite a bit of printing paraphernalia; in the center of the room was a table and several chairs; against the walls were several boxes, a jacket and a cap hung on a nail and from the ceiling there extended an electric bulb. Jack whispered, “What do you make of it all?”

Paul shrugged his shoulders. Again he threw a beam of light all around the room. Satisfied with what he saw, he turned and motioned to his friend that they leave. Jack shook his head. “No,” he whispered, “let’s see exactly what they have here.”

“Not now,” was the whispered reply. “Some other time.”

He began to mount the stairs and Jack followed. They closed the trap after them and replaced the piece of wood. Paul went over to the window and peeked out. And it was a lucky thing that he did. Locating Ken on the spot they had left him, he noticed the guard put his fingers to his lips and whistle. But they could not hear the whistle because both the door to the house and the door to the room were closed. Grabbing Jack by the arm, he cried, “Hurry!” and dragged him out of the room. In the hall they just managed to duck under the stairs as the door opened and by the sound of the footsteps the boys guessed that two men had entered. They heard a gruff voice mutter, “All right, we’ll do it.”

The next instant they heard the second door open and close. Venturing out from their hiding place, they listened carefully to the opening of the trap door, one man descending, then the second man descending and then, plop, the trap door closing again. The boys looked at each other. Paul smiled while Jack wiped the perspiration off his forehead with a muffled sigh of relief. Paul opened the door noiselessly and they stepped out into the open. At a sign from Paul, Ken was in an instant over the fence and away. A moment later Jack and Paul were out of the yard and running down the street.

They joined Ken at the end of the street. The two boys did not dare to speak until they were some distance away from the empty house. Finally, Jack, who couldn’t restrain himself any more, heaved a very audible sigh of relief and exclaimed, “Boy! Was that a close shave! I’m so nervous, my hands are shaking.”

“What happened?” asked Ken who could see that something important had transpired.

“Let’s not talk now,” said Paul. “Wait until we get someplace where we can’t be overheard.” He looked from one of his friends to the other. “Don’t look so curious and excited,” he added. “Let’s discuss some ordinary topic. Did you fix your dad’s car, Jack?”

Jack looked at his chum and burst out laughing. Paul looked as calm and unconcerned as though nothing had happened. “I’m glad to see you fellows enjoying your fun,” remarked Ken. “But I wish you would tell me the joke so I could also enjoy it and laugh.”

That set both Jack and Paul laughing. “Pardon us, Ken,” said Paul. “But there really is nothing to laugh about. That’s the joke. But we will tell you all about it right away.”