Chapter XI: The Hastily Planned Merienda

Thrilled with delight over what she had discovered, Jo Ann could scarcely wait to share the secret with Peggy and Florence. Things were working out to her entire satisfaction at last.

With the utmost caution she eased herself around on the stone ledge. Nothing must happen now to prevent the further investigation of this mysterious room.

As soon as Jo Ann’s head appeared outside the opening, Peggy called eagerly from the roof, “Jo, did you find anything?”

“Why, of course!” she called back. “Isn’t that what I came for?”

“What is it?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know!”

“Jo, don’t be so mean. Was there a room?”

“I’ll tell you later.” Lying flat on her stomach, Jo Ann reached for the rope.

Getting out of the opening, she found, was much more simple than getting into it. With little difficulty she pulled herself out of the window and slowly climbed to the roof.

“What’d you discover? Tell me, Jo,” pleaded Peggy. “Was it worth the trouble?”

“I should say so. I’ll tell you all about it when we get off the roof. Let’s hurry down before the people begin to stir in the streets.”

“All right. I’m about roasted.”

“I’ve found a real mystery this time,” Jo Ann added as she pulled the rope up over the edge of the roof.

“If you say any more, I’ll die of curiosity before we get off this roof.”

“And I’ll leave you right here, too,” Jo Ann returned lightly. “Before that happens, though, push the rope in that hole a little to loosen it so I can catch hold of the stick with the parasol.”

Obediently Peggy dropped to her knees and began pushing the rope while Jo Ann reached for the other end with the hooked handle of the parasol. After working for several minutes she managed to get hold of the rope and slip the stick out of the knot at the end. Peggy easily pulled the rope through the hole then, and off they started across the roof.

“I’ll have this rope fixed back on the bar in a jiffy now; then we can get off this hot roof,” Jo Ann remarked.

As soon as she had tied the rope on the bar and tested the knot she added, “You first, Peg. You’ve been in the sun longer than I have. Let me help you. It’s a little hard getting over the wall.”

“What do you think I am—a baby?” asked Peggy with injured dignity. “I can do it if you can.”

“Oh, I beg your pardon,” laughed Jo Ann. “When you get down I’ll lower the parasol to you. Be sure to keep a sharp lookout for Dr. Blackwell and Felipe. I don’t dare to let them see me in these knickers—they’d know I’d been up to something unusual. I’m more anxious than ever now to keep our adventures a secret till we solve the whole mystery.”

Peggy nodded assent as she leaned over the wall and looked down. The next moment she exclaimed in surprise, “I wonder where Florence is! I thought she’d surely be waiting for us on the balcony, didn’t you?”

“Yes. She’s probably worried frantic—we’ve been gone so long. Be sure to be as quiet as you can now till you find out whether anyone’s in the office.”

Quietly Peggy slipped over the edge of the wall and down the rope to the balcony. Tiptoeing to the door, she peeped into the office. To her consternation there was Dr. Blackwell dozing in his chair by the desk.

After waving an excited warning to Jo Ann she hesitated a moment, debating whether to stay on the balcony or to slip by Dr. Blackwell and see if Felipe were asleep in his chair by the door.

“If Felipe’s still asleep, I’ll signal Jo to come on,” she told herself.

Softly she crept into the office. When she had almost reached the hall door, Dr. Blackwell suddenly gave a little start and looked around.

“Why, Miss Peggy—I thought you were asleep!” he exclaimed.

“Well—I—I didn’t want to sleep this afternoon,” she stammered. “I’m sorry I disturbed you. Do go on and finish your nap.”

As she hastened out of the room she saw Felipe turn and look at her in surprise.

“He’s wondering where I’ve been—how I got into the office without his seeing me,” she thought. “Poor Jo’s in bad luck again, with both Dr. Blackwell and Felipe awake. I knew we were staying up there too long. I wonder how on earth Florence and I’ll ever manage to get both the doctor and Felipe away from the office long enough to give her a chance to get to her room.”

As she was crossing the hall she met Florence coming from the rear.

The moment they got inside their room Florence asked anxiously, “Where’s Jo—is she all right? I’ve been worried to death over you girls.”

“She’s caught up on the roof again. Your father’s in the office, and she’s scared to come down for fear he’ll ask her some embarrassing questions. Those knickers’d give her away. If I hadn’t had on a dress, I’d have been caught.”

Florence nodded understandingly. “I know he’d be shocked if he saw Jo in knickers. Girls never wear knickers in the city. He’d know she’d been up to something.”

“What’ll we do? We can’t let her stay up there all afternoon. Can’t you think of some plan to get your father and Felipe out of the way a few minutes?”

Florence wrinkled her brows in a thoughtful frown. “I don’t know what to say. Let’s see. The only thing I can think of is to make some coffee and invite Dad to our _merienda_ in the dining room.”

“That’s fine, but what about Felipe?”

“We’ll have to decide that later. Come on; we’ll fix the coffee, and by the time it’s ready maybe we can think of something for him to do.”

Hastily they prepared coffee and dainty sandwiches, then went to the office for Dr. Blackwell, who promptly accepted the invitation to the _merienda_.

“We’ll join you in the dining room in a minute,” Florence told him.

As soon as Dr. Blackwell had left the office and Florence had sent Felipe to the drugstore for some ice cream, Peggy grasped this opportunity to call Jo Ann. She flew to the balcony and whistled softly. The moment Jo Ann’s head appeared over the wall she called, “The coast’s clear. You’ll have to hurry, though.”

Jo Ann needed no urging to get off the roof. She literally dropped to the balcony, drew the rope up and fastened the cord in its accustomed place, then ran to her room.

In an amazingly short time she emerged looking cool and fresh in a soft green dress. Meeting Felipe in the hall with the ice cream, she offered to carry it to the dining room.

When they were almost through their lunch Felipe announced that a patient was waiting to see _el doctor_.

The moment Dr. Blackwell was out of hearing Peggy burst out, “Jo, tell us quickly, before anything else happens, what you found in that room.”

“I found plenty. There’s a bigger mystery than we ever dreamed of.”

“Well, tell us—what is it?” insisted Peggy.

“Yes, do hurry, Jo,” added Florence. “I can’t wait another instant.”

“Well, I’ll start at the beginning,” Jo Ann replied. “When I finally got in that window—I had to lie on my stomach to do it—all I could see was a small dark room. There was the odor of decaying wood or something—it smelled old and stale.”

“Oh, do you s’pose they could’ve used that room as a sort of dungeon or cell and left people in there to die?” gasped Peggy, wide-eyed.

“I hardly think so—there wasn’t a thing to suggest that. It was perfectly bare. I thought for a while you girls had the laugh on me this time. I hated to admit I’d gone on a wild-goose chase. I was just about ready to turn around and climb back to the roof when I decided to look again, and then——” She paused dramatically.

Both girls waited breathlessly, then Peggy ejaculated, “Go on! Don’t keep us in suspense any longer.”

“Then I threw the light over the floor again and noticed one half of it was black while the other half was gray. Now what do you suppose that black strip was?”

Peggy and Florence shook their heads. “How do we know?” said Peggy. “Go on.”

“I couldn’t tell either, in the dim light. Then I tied my flashlight on a string and lowered it down as far as possible. That black strip was—a—black—_hole_!”

“I don’t see anything wonderful about that,” scoffed Peggy.

“Why do you suppose they’d have a hole like that in a house?” put in Florence.

“That’s just what I was wondering,” said Jo Ann. “When the string slipped out of my hand and the light fell bumping down the hole, I——”

“How could it bump down a hole?” broke in Peggy skeptically.

“Well, it did—and that’s what I got so excited about.” She paused again.

“Cut out the dramatics,” Peggy ordered impatiently.

“Now, young lady, if you don’t like the way I’m telling this, I’ll stop right here.” Jo Ann smiled teasingly.

“Oh, do go on,” begged Florence.

“Well, then—as the light bumped over and over, I saw remnants of a crude ladder or steps of some sort. There seemed to be some rough heavy poles—something on the order of that scaffold the workmen used—but it looked as if there were steps between the poles. I couldn’t see very well.”

“But how could there be pieces of wood left in there if this house is as old as you said it was?” demanded Peggy. “It’d all be decayed long ago.”

“Not in this climate,” put in Florence quickly. “Are the doors of the house decayed? You see the air in this country is so dry that things do not deteriorate as they do in the ozone belt.”

“Why should they have a ladder in such a place?” queried Peggy.

“Use your head, Peg,” advised Jo Ann. “You know the door to the hidden room opens right at the end of this dark hall.” She gestured toward the hall. “Think how convenient it’d have been to have a secret passage leading from there!”

“Oh, I see what you mean!” Peggy exclaimed.

“But what would they want a secret passage for?” asked Florence.

“At the time this house was built,” replied Jo Ann, “there were rebellions and wars going on much of the time, and that secret passage may have been the means of escape, or it may have led to a hiding place. I can imagine several reasons why it would have been convenient.”

“Where do you suppose it goes?” Peggy asked curiously.

“I have a very good idea about that right now, but I’ll tell you later. I’m going down there and find out.” Jo Ann tilted her chin at a determined angle.