Chapter XIII: Into the Unknown

After they had gone to their room that night, the girls continued to talk over their plans for exploring the mysterious black shaft.

“If we’re going to get the benefit of the full moon, we’ll have to go down into the shaft in the next two or three nights, so we might as well go down tomorrow night,” Jo Ann said earnestly. “What do you say to our going tomorrow night?”

Florence and Peggy exchanged excited glances, then replied in unison, “All right.”

The next morning they set to work early to get everything ready for their great adventure.

So it was that just as the bells in the cathedral tower finished chiming the midnight hour, three lithe, knicker-clad figures crept one by one up on the roof and over near the chimney.

“We’ll have to wait a little while,” said Jo Ann, low-voiced. “The moon isn’t up far enough yet for it to throw much light on the rear of the house. I can’t get the other coil of rope out of that back window without more light.” She placed her gloves, flashlight, and rope on the roof beside her, the other girls following her example.

“I’m glad we have to wait,” Florence remarked. “It’s lovely up here in the moonlight. Wouldn’t this be a wonderful place for a roof garden? We could come up here and enjoy it every——”

“Listen!” broke in Peggy with her finger to her lips. “I hear music!”

Obediently Florence and Jo Ann stopped talking to listen.

“A _caballero_ serenading his lady love,” Florence explained in reply to Peggy’s questioning look.

The next moment Peggy began swaying to the rhythm of the music like a graceful willow tree in the breeze; then catching Florence by the arm, she danced her lightly across the roof.

When they neared Jo Ann again, she called to them softly, “Better not make so much noise!”

“No one’d ever dream of looking up here,” Peggy murmured over her shoulder, dancing away and not stopping till the music ended.

The spell being broken then, the three girls clambered to the top of the wall and sat there for several minutes looking down on the city below. In the brilliant tropical moonlight the winding gray paths and dark shadowy trees and shrubbery of the Plaza were silhouetted against the white-walled buildings beyond. High above all, like a sentinel on guard over the sleeping city, rose the bell tower of the cathedral.

They were still gazing at this enchanting, etching-like picture when the chimes rang out again.

Jo Ann gave a little start. “I didn’t realize we’d been sitting here so long. This moonlight’s cast a spell over me—I’d almost forgotten what we came up here for. I’m going over now to see if there’s enough light shining on that back wall for me to get the rope that we fastened to the iron bars of the window.”

She sprang down lightly and crossed the roof. One glance showed her that she still had a few minutes to wait before the rays of the moon would light the back window. As she stood looking out over the rear wall of the church, her gaze traveled on past the adobe huts toward the river.

“The moonlight has worked magic,” she thought in surprise. “It has changed that ugly district into a thing of beauty; those dirty adobe huts look white and shining, and that muddy river, silvery and peaceful. If only something could transform the lives of the people who live there the same way! I wish there were something I could do to help them.”

She shook herself slightly. “It won’t do any good to stand here dreaming about it,” she said aloud, then turned and called softly to the girls, “Come on. It’s light enough now for me to see to get that rope.”

While she had been talking she had fastened her flashlight to her belt and slipped on a pair of heavy gloves to protect her hands from the scratchy fiber rope. That done, she lowered herself over the wall and slipped down till her feet reached the loop on the end; then holding the rope firmly under one arm, she dug her fingers into the rough plaster and moved slowly across the wall. When she had almost reached the window, her hands slipped. Like the pendulum of a huge clock, she swung back and forth, clinging tightly to the rope. Simultaneously there was the sting of fire across her shoulder and arm. Glancing around, she saw that her shirt was torn and blood was oozing from her shoulder.

“What’s a little thing like that?” she thought. “There’s no time to bother with it now.” Maybe if she’d take off her gloves, she could reach the window. Jerking them off, she tried again and again to get a fingerhold in the wall to pull herself across, but without success.

“It’s not as simple as I thought,” she told herself, wondering what to do next.

Hearing a soft whistle just then, she glanced up where Peggy and Florence were watching from the roof. Peggy was gesturing excitedly as if she were trying to tell her what to do. What could she mean?

The next moment she felt the end of the heavy cord dangling in her face, and immediately she understood. She grasped the cord and fastened it securely to the rope to which she was clinging; then with Peggy and Florence pulling on the cord from the roof, she found it easy to move across the wall. There was no danger of slipping now. Having braced herself with one foot between the iron bars of the window, she unwound the coil of rope which she had fastened there from the inside earlier in the evening. After testing it to see that the end was securely fastened to the bars, she whistled softly to the girls. At once the cord slackened, and she swung slowly back with the end of the long, knotted rope in her hand.

On reaching the narrow window she pitched the rope through, then wriggled herself onto the ledge. After turning on her stomach she had both hands free to unfasten her flashlight.

Anxiously then she waited for Florence to descend. By having her come between them she and Peggy felt they could look after her better. But now, to her amazement, she saw that Florence was fully capable of looking after herself. She was climbing down slowly and cautiously, but not timidly.

Since the narrow window was very small and would hold only one, Jo Ann knew she must hurry to get out of it. After a hasty examination of the room below, she lowered herself to the floor, careful to avoid falling into the open shaft which extended completely across one end.

The moment she touched the floor she flashed the light upward so as to help Florence and Peggy in their descent. In a few more moments they were standing safely beside her.

“What a strange place!” Peggy said, then added quickly in a whisper, “I’ll wake Dr. Blackwell at this rate.”

“No; talk as loud as you like,” replied Jo Ann. “These walls are so thick I believe you could yell down here without his hearing you.”

The girls stared at Jo Ann in amazement. It seemed incredible—uncanny—that they could be within a few feet of home and Dr. Blackwell, and yet he could not hear them.

With the aid of their flashlights they examined the room from top to bottom, only to find that except for the rough outlines of the sealed doorway, it was bare and uninteresting. Half fearfully, then, they stared down into the shaft. In the surrounding darkness the old ladder looked white and ghostlike.

“Why do you suppose they sealed up that door instead of closing up this hole?” queried Peggy curiously.

“Because it was much easier to close up the door,” replied Jo Ann. “It’d be hard to conceal as large an opening as this in a cement floor. I have an idea that the door was sealed up in a hurry to prevent the discovery of this secret passage. Let’s see where it leads. Shine your lights over this way so I can see,” she ordered, climbing over the edge of the floor.

Slowly she made her way down the rope into the shaft. Now and then she stopped to kick off a loose step or a jagged splinter from the old ladder lest it should injure Florence and Peggy, who would follow in a moment.

Suddenly she gave a little shriek. There to one side of the shaft yawned the mouth of a low, tunnel-like opening. “O-oh, hurry, girls!” she cried excitedly.

“What’s the matter?” called Peggy in alarm. “Are you hurt? Be there in a minute,” she added as she started down the rope.

“I’m not hurt, but I’ve found something important,” Jo Ann called back.

In a surprisingly short time both Peggy and Florence had dropped down to the bottom of the shaft beside Jo Ann. With eyes straining to penetrate the darkness, the girls peered into the tunnel.

“Come on, let’s go inside,” urged Jo Ann. Even as she was speaking, she stooped and entered the low, narrow tunnel.

Obediently Peggy and Florence followed at her heels. No sooner had they entered than they began coughing and choking.

“Don’t touch the——” Florence stopped in the middle of her warning to sneeze loudly; at the same moment such a violent attack of coughing seized Peggy that she leaned against the wall.

“Don’t lean against—that wall!” gasped Florence, catching her by the arm. “Whenever you do”—she stopped to sneeze again—“it stirs up a fine dust. See!” she added, rubbing her finger over the wall. In the rays of the lights they could see a fine white powder which had formed on the crumbling stones. “The air’s very dry, and the least movement sets the powder in motion.”

Careful to avoid touching the walls or making a sudden motion that would stir up the dust, they began examining their surroundings. Before them as far as they could see stretched the dark passageway, part of its walls having apparently been cut through natural stone, while the other part had been lined with blocks of limestone. It was the dust from these limestone blocks which had choked them, Florence noticed.

After they had walked a short distance the opening broadened and was much higher. It was easy to avoid touching the walls now, and even Jo Ann could stand without bumping her head. With Jo Ann still in the lead they walked slowly in single file down the passage. All along the way they kept flashing their lights on the walls and ceiling and floor, watching carefully lest they overlook something.

“Where do you suppose we are now, Jo?” called Peggy some minutes later.

“I don’t know for sure, of course, but I think we’re headed toward the old church. I had an idea we’d find something like this.”

“I believe you’re right,” agreed Florence. “This tunnel must’ve been used for a secret exit through the church.”

“I think it’s more than just an exit,” declared Jo Ann. “They would never have made this tunnel this broad and high or lined it with stone if it were to be used merely as a way of escape.”

“What else could it’ve been used for, then—and who do you suppose ever had it made in the first place?” Florence asked curiously.

“I believe your house used to be closely connected with the church in some way—maybe it was used as a home for the priests. Back in the days when these buildings were erected, they were always having wars and revolutions. This tunnel would make it possible for the priests to get over to the church, no matter what was going on outside. Then just think what an excellent place this would be to hide anyone or anything! I believe it was used as a hiding place in war times as well as an——” She stopped suddenly. “Oh, here’s another tunnel!” she exclaimed as she peered into another large opening in the side of the passageway. “And this one goes on farther.”

“It looks as if there’s a network of passages,” put in Peggy excitedly as she and Florence crowded near Jo Ann to see this discovery. “I wonder where they go and what they were for.”

“We’ll explore them and find out; but we must be careful not to get lost,” cautioned Jo Ann. “No one’d ever know what had happened to us. They’d think we’d just evaporated in thin air.”

“Ugh!” shuddered Peggy. “Don’t even mention such a thing. It gives me the creeps.”

“Oh, look, here’s a little niche in the wall!” exclaimed Florence. “And look—what is this?” she asked, holding up a queer-shaped piece of dark metal.

“It looks like some sort of a candle holder to me,” Peggy volunteered. “The priests must have kept candles there to use when going back and forth through the——” She stopped abruptly and sprang back, shrieking. Something black and winged had struck her in the face.

The next moment Florence cried excitedly, “What is that awful thing?” She slapped madly at a passing object, then began to sneeze violently.

For a few moments the air was white with dust about the girls as they huddled together, choking and gasping.

“That’s—just—bats!” gasped Jo Ann at last, as the air became clearer. “We frightened—them.”

“You mean—they—frightened us,” corrected Peggy. “Aren’t we brave, though?”

“I’ll admit I was startled at first,” acknowledged Florence. “I couldn’t imagine what those horrid flapping things were.”

Before venturing any further they looked anxiously all around, but to their relief they could see no more of the terrifying little creatures.

“Which way shall we go?” asked Jo Ann. “Straight ahead, or shall we see where this side tunnel leads?”

“I’ll tell you what to do,” suggested Peggy. “While you and Florence explore that side passage, I’ll wait here in this main tunnel. That way you can’t get lost—and if you get frightened, just call me, and I’ll answer so you’ll know how to get back.”

“Are you sure you won’t be afraid?” asked Jo Ann. “We won’t be gone long.”

“Why, of course I’m not afraid,” bragged Peggy. “Anyway, there’s nothing to be afraid of—except those miserable bats, and we’ve frightened them away.”

“All right, then,” agreed Jo Ann. “You be sure to stay right here.”

Peggy grinned. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be all right. It’s you two who’re going into the unknown.”

Standing in the opening where the tunnels joined, she watched Florence and Jo Ann disappear into the darkness. Finally only a dim light flickered in the distance, then vanished altogether. She was alone—alone with the dust of the centuries about her.

Jo Ann’s voice floated back just then with surprising clearness. “Everything all right?”

“Okay,” Peggy called back, more cheerfully than she felt.