Chapter XIV: Ghostly Figures

When Jo Ann and Florence had gone only a short distance, they noticed the tunnel curved so that they could not see Peggy’s light.

“Poor Peg’s alone now—she can’t even see our lights,” said Florence. “I almost wish we hadn’t left her back there.”

“If she’ll stay right where we left her, she ought to be all right. But this is the darkest place I was ever in—spooky, too.”

They walked slowly, stopping every now and then to examine the sides and top of the tunnel.

Jo Ann suddenly pointed to the top. “Look up there! There’s a crack.”

“Let’s go back—that looks scary to me!” Florence exclaimed quickly. “It might cave in.”

“No, that small a crack couldn’t be dangerous. Come on.”

Jo Ann started on again, and reluctantly Florence followed. In spite of her seeming indifference to danger, Jo Ann was really examining the walls and top more cautiously than ever.

“Here’s another crack!” she exclaimed a few minutes later. “Maybe there’s been an earthquake near here. They do have earthquakes down here sometimes, don’t they?”

“Yes, now and then—slight ones,” Florence replied. “Don’t you think we’d better go back? Poor Peg may be getting lonesome, and we told her we wouldn’t be gone long.”

Jo Ann half smiled. “Maybe she is, but let’s go a little farther. Surely we’ll come to the end of this tunnel soon.”

“There’s no telling how long it is—it might be miles long. Let’s go back.”

“In a minute. I see something ahead—something whitish. Maybe it’s a little opening and the moonlight’s shining through.” Jo Ann stopped and pointed directly ahead.

“Oh, I do see it!” Florence exclaimed. “It does look white.”

Eagerly Jo Ann led the way onward, but not without watching for anything that might be dangerous. When they had gone a few yards farther, she suddenly cried, “Why, it’s a cave-in!”

“You see—I told you we’d better go back. Come on.” Florence turned around and started toward the entrance. When she had gone only a few steps she noticed that Jo Ann was not following her. Looking back, she saw her leaning over, examining the pile of debris and fallen stones.

“Look! The tunnel’s almost blocked by this cave-in!” Jo Ann called. “There’s only a small opening left over here on one side.”

“Well, we can’t go any farther, so let’s get out before it caves in some more,” insisted Florence.

“I don’t believe there’s any danger of that. Look at the dust on these stones. They’ve been here for years and years. Maybe a cannon ball shattered this part of the tunnel in one of the wars.”

“Maybe so, but I’ll feel better when we get away from here.” A moment later she cried out in alarm on seeing Jo Ann climb up toward the hole. “Jo, you mustn’t crawl in there!”

“Why not? I want to see if this is the end of the tunnel. There isn’t any danger. These stones are solid. See, I’ve felt every one of them.” Jo Ann pushed first one stone, then another, to show that there was no danger of their slipping; then with her flashlight ahead of her she thrust her head and shoulders into the opening.

To her disappointment she could see only a short distance. Eager to see as far as possible, she wriggled carefully over the jagged stones, farther into the opening, and held her flashlight at arm’s length.

“Oh, this is nothing but a little cave-in!” she called back in a muffled tone. “The tunnel goes on a long way. There’s no sign of the end of it. Let’s crawl on through.”

“No indeed, I’m not going in that hole,” Florence replied promptly. “And you’d better get out right a——”

A muffled shriek from Jo Ann broke into her sentence. “Oh, I’ve dropped my flashlight on the other side! Now I’ve—” she stopped to cough violently—“I’ve got to crawl through—and get it.”

“Don’t crawl clear through—you might not be able to get back!” Florence’s voice was full of anxiety. “Let me hold your feet while you reach for the flashlight.” Without waiting for an answer she grasped Jo Ann’s feet firmly.

Slowly then Jo Ann wriggled still farther into the hole. The farther she crawled, the nearer Florence was pulled to the opening. With a sudden jerk Jo Ann reached over to get her flashlight. In her effort she threw Florence against the pile of debris and stirred up the fine dust, which set both of them to coughing and struggling for air.

“Hurry up—and—crawl—out,” begged Florence between gasps.

“Coming—this instant. Pull me—back. I—can’t—make it—by myself.”

Florence laid down her flashlight and began pulling at Jo Ann’s feet.

“Pull harder,” Jo Ann grunted.

“I’m pulling—as hard as I can.”

“I haven’t budged. Pull again—and I’ll wiggle as hard as I can. These sharp stones hurt like fury.”

Once more Florence braced herself and pulled with all her strength. The next moment one of Jo Ann’s oxfords slipped off, and Florence was sent sprawling backward on the floor. In the cloud of dust that arose, Florence caught a glimpse of Jo Ann’s feet disappearing in the hole.

But Jo Ann and Florence were not the only ones who were having their troubles. Peggy, too, was having her share. No sooner had the girls’ lights disappeared than she began to get restless. Everything looked so much more gloomy and alarming in the faint glow of one flashlight. When she threw its rays directly in front, they penetrated the darkness only a short distance and cast eerie shadows on the walls near by.

“It’s silly to get scared of the dark and shadows this way,” she scolded herself.

With an effort she tried to concentrate on the persons who had built these tunnels. Patient people they must have been to cut these passages through solid stone with their old crude tools. They were probably Indian workmen, experienced in cutting stone. It must have taken them years and years to make these.

All at once it seemed to her that the shadow on her right took the form of a crouching Indian.

“Here I am being silly again,” she thought. “It’s because I’m standing still here that I’m nervous. It’s lonesome as well as scary, staying still in a spooky place like this.”

Looking around for something to divert her mind, she noticed the queer-shaped piece of metal in the niche and wondered what Florence had done with the other one. “Perhaps she dropped it when the bats frightened her,” she thought.

She cast the rays of her light over the floor till she finally found the piece of metal, then placed it back in the niche with its mate. “Jo and I can use one of these for a candle holder on the little table beside our bed, and Florence can use the other,” she decided.

Not seeing anything else of interest, she grew more restless than ever. “I wonder where this tunnel leads. I believe I’ll walk down it a little way. Florence and Jo probably won’t be back for several minutes. There’s no sign of their lights yet. I won’t go but a few steps. They might call, and I couldn’t hear them.”

She walked slowly a short distance, looking carefully on all sides. When she had gone about twelve feet she came to a narrow opening on her right.

She stopped and peered into it as far as her light would permit. “This place is certainly a network of passages,” she thought. “I wonder what this narrow one’s for.”

Her curiosity aroused, she turned into this new passage and kept straight ahead for a little way. Then as she flashed her light about, she caught a glimpse of another opening, to her left. Glancing into this opening, she saw at the farther end what appeared to be a door half ajar.

Her eyes began to shine. “Surely I’ll find something important behind that door,” she thought. “It’d be a rich joke on Jo and Florence if I should be the one to make some great discovery.”

With her heart thumping rapidly she walked down to the door, peeped in, then cautiously opened the door wider and stepped inside. To her great disappointment the room was absolutely bare.

“Just my luck!” she groaned. “I thought surely I was going to find something interesting to show the girls.”

Disgusted, she hurried out of the room and back to the passage, then turned quickly to her left and hastened on.

“One more turn, and I’ll be back in the main tunnel,” she told herself.

When she had gone a short distance, she discovered that the passage apparently ended a few feet ahead.

“Why, this isn’t the way I came!” she cried in alarm. Her heart seemed to leap up into her throat, and her eyes dilated in horror. “Why, I’m lost! Lost!”

The next moment she ordered herself sternly, “Don’t lose your head! Go back and retrace your steps to that opening. You’ve taken the wrong turn—that’s all.”

With a fresh grip on her emotions she wheeled about and walked to the opening from which she had just emerged.

“Oh, here’s where I made my mistake!” she exclaimed in relief. “I turned to the left instead of the right. What a stupid I was!”

She started on again and kept straight ahead till she reached the entrance to the main tunnel.

As her light shone on the wall directly in front of her she suddenly halted in surprise. There, a little to her right, was a recess in the wall with a long, solid-looking panel in the back.

“That’s strange!” she thought. “I wonder what that panel’s for.”

She flashed her light straight into the recess this time. In the circle of light a black metal ring stood out distinctly. Could this queer-looking panel be a door? If it were, then there was another room here only a few feet from her.

Timidly she caught hold of the metal ring the next moment and pulled; to her disappointment, the panel did not move.

“There must be a reason for this ring and this panel,” she told herself. “I’ll try again, harder.”

Putting her shoulder against the panel, she pushed with all her strength. There was a sudden, loud, grating noise; then the door swung open with such force that she lost her balance and fell full length on the floor.

Her first thought was about her flashlight. What a terrible plight she would be in if it were broken! Trembling with anxiety, she pressed the button of her light. Out flashed its rays as brightly as ever. Half curiously, half timidly she stared into the lighted area.

The next instant her eyes dilated in terror. What was that horrible-looking creature directly in front of her!

“O-o-oh!” she shrieked. “Jo! Jo!”

After that one shriek her throat contracted with fright, and she lay as if paralyzed.

That horrible thing was so near she could almost touch it. Was it man—or beast—some prehistoric animal? She had never—not even in her wildest imagination—seen anything like this hideous monster. It stood in an upright position like a man and had long scrawny arms and legs, and huge frightful claws which seemed to be reaching out to grab her. Its head was hunched between its shoulders, and over the whole thing was a long, scraggly, hairlike covering.

With eyes fastened on the creature Peggy waited breathlessly. If only the thing would move or do something! Anything would be better than this suspense. But still it stood—motionless. If only she could manage to slide or crawl out of the room! But that monster would be sure to follow stealthily. Yet she must do something. She _must_ get out of this room.

Forcing her eyes for a second from the monster, she glanced toward the door. The next instant she shuddered in fresh terror. There beside the door, almost at her feet, loomed another monster, taller and more horrible than the first.

Almost simultaneously there came a soft thudding sound from the tunnel. What could that be? Some other menace? It was getting nearer—nearer.

Suddenly above the thudding sounded a high-pitched voice—Jo Ann’s voice! Jo and Florence were running to her rescue! They had heard her scream.

“You must get out of this room this instant and warn the girls of their danger,” she commanded herself sternly.

Carefully, slowly, almost without seeming to move, she backed feet first toward the door. To reach it she had to pass so close to this other taller and more horrible creature that she would almost touch it. She held her breath. Already she could feel the clutch of those clawlike hands.

Steeling herself, she inched her body a little nearer. Out of the corner of her eye she watched those threatening claws. Brown leathery claws they were—dried—wrinkled—ghastly.

All at once the reason for their ghastly appearance darted into her mind—the hideous creatures were _dead_!

With a cry of relief she sprang to her feet and stumbled through the door. Just as she stepped into the tunnel, Jo Ann and Florence rushed up, panting.

“Peg—what’s—the matter?” Jo Ann cried, throwing her arms around Peggy. “I was afraid something dreadful——”

“What did happen, Peg?” urged Florence between gasps for breath as she flashed her light full upon Peggy.

Struggling to make her voice sound natural, Peggy replied slowly, “I—was—just scared. I’m—sorry—I frightened you.”

“What frightened you?” Jo Ann put in quickly. “You’re white as a ghost.”

“That’s what I’ve been seeing—ghosts! Ugh!” Peggy shivered.

“This is no time for foolishness. What scared you?”

“Peep through that door and see for yourself, then,” Peggy replied.

All curiosity, Jo Ann turned quickly toward the open door, Florence at her heels. The next moment both girls drew back with cries of fright.

“Horrible!” ejaculated Florence.

“Horrible!” echoed Jo Ann. “No wonder you were frightened, Peg,” she added quickly. “They’re only mummies, but if I hadn’t read about them I’d have been paralyzed. But what made you come up here after you said you’d stay where we left you?”

“I got tired waiting for you—I thought you’d never come—so I decided to explore this tunnel a little way. I got lost for a while; and then on my way back I found this door. It wouldn’t open at first, so I pushed hard—and then I tumbled head foremost into that room. When I turned on my light and saw those horrible creatures—well, I ’most died from fright. I thought they were alive.”

“You poor child,” comforted Florence. “We should never have left you alone.”

“What made you two stay so long?”

“We went farther than we expected, and Jo got stuck in a hole.”

Peggy turned to Jo Ann. “You would do something like that! What kind of a hole was it?”

“Just a little opening in a cave-in. I wanted to see what was on the other side. I dropped my flashlight over there and got stuck trying to get it.”

“I had to pull her out—I had a time doing it,” Florence added.

“That wasn’t nearly as much trouble as I got into,” said Peggy with a gesture toward the door. “How’d those hideous things ever get in there?”

“I don’t know, I’m sure,” replied Jo Ann. “I’ve read that they’ve been found in some parts of Mexico, and that they’re different from the ancient Egyptian mummies in that no preservatives were used. The air in certain parts of this country has such drying qualities in it that centuries ago people discovered that they could keep bodies perfectly without the use of preservatives.”

“Ugh! They don’t look perfect to me,” put in Peggy.

Jo Ann stepped to the door, saying, “I’d like to examine those mummies more closely, but——“

“That’s the way we feel, don’t we, Florence?” Peggy said with a half smile as she and Florence crowded into the doorway. “What is that whitish stuff on them?” she asked the next moment.

“I imagine they were wrapped in a sort of shroud when they were put in there,” said Jo Ann, “but it’s almost evaporated.”

“Why do you suppose they’re standing straight up, Jo?” Peggy queried curiously. “I should think they’d be in coffins, or something.”

Jo Ann shook her head dubiously. “Some ancient custom, perhaps.”

“Didn’t you start out to find the family skeleton, Jo?” asked Florence, with a twinkle in her eyes. “It seems to me Peggy found it, and all of its ancestors, for you.”

Peggy shuddered. “It’s a good thing I didn’t know there were so many mummies in this room. Let’s get away from here. I’ve seen enough of these horrible-looking things to last me a lifetime. You have, too, haven’t you, Florence?”

Florence nodded an emphatic assent and added, “Surely you’ve looked at them long enough, Jo. Come on.”

Reluctantly Jo Ann turned to leave. “I’d like to go inside and look over the room, but since you insist, I s’pose I’ll have to go.”

Peggy took a few steps down the passage, calling back over her shoulder, “Shut the door, Jo. I found it closed, so we’d better leave it that way.”

“All right.” Jo Ann caught hold of the ring and pulled on it, but the door would not budge.

After pulling on it several more times without success she called out, “The door’s stuck—I’ll have to try pushing. Catch hold of the ring and pull, Peg, while I push, and, Florence, you shine your light in here so I can see,” she added as she stepped into the room.

Bracing herself against the wall, she slipped her arm into the narrow space behind the door and began pushing. With one wary glance at the ghostly figures back of her, Peggy pulled vigorously on the ring.

Suddenly the door gave a loud grating noise and swung so quickly that Peggy lost her balance and fell back against the mummies. With a terrified shriek she sprang back.

At the same instant Jo Ann felt something hard bump against her leg as she tumbled back against the wall. Guessing what had happened to Peggy, she reached for her flashlight hanging to her belt. No sooner had she flashed on the light than Peggy was by her side, shivering and pale with fright.

“Ugh! I fell against those hideous mummies!” she exclaimed. “Let’s get out of here this instant.”

“Something struck me, too,” said Jo Ann, glancing down in the corner back of the door.

There before her eyes lay several large candelabra.

“Oh, look here, Peg!” she cried excitedly.

“They’re just old iron candlesticks,” Peggy replied shortly. “Come on.”

Not heeding Peggy’s words, Jo Ann reached down and picked up one of them and began examining it closely. “I believe this is gold—a golden candelabrum!” she exclaimed admiringly. “Look at the lovely design on the base—and aren’t the branches beautifully shaped!”

Just then Florence peered around the half-open door and called out, “What’s happened to you two? Why don’t you come on out?”

“We’ve made a wonderful discovery,” replied Jo Ann. “Come here and see.”

As soon as Florence came inside Jo Ann pointed triumphantly to the candelabra. “They’re gold—maybe solid gold!”

After a moment’s tribute of silence Florence remarked, “They’re beautiful. I don’t believe they’re all gold; those darker ones are probably silver and tarnished with age.” She reached down and lifted one of the duller-looking candelabra. “It certainly is heavy. Isn’t this design on the base exquisite?” As she placed it back on the floor she added, “I believe all these belong to the church.”

“Probably they were hidden here long ago during some war or revolution and then forgotten,” Jo Ann said thoughtfully. “Maybe the persons who put them here were killed, and so——” She stopped abruptly, then began again, “I shouldn’t wonder if there were more valuable things hidden down here. I want to see, too, if there aren’t steps leading up to the church. Come on.”