Meredith Nicholson

“ You have doubtless heard that the country people believe there is money concealed here,—but I dare say you have exhausted the possibilities. This is not the first time a rich man has died leaving precious little behind him. ”

“ The blood rushed into Pickering’s face and he turned toward Larry stormily.
“This is unwarrantable and infamous! My relations with Mr. Glenarm are none of your business. When you remember that after being deserted by his own flesh and blood he appealed to me, going so far as to intrust all his affairs to my care at his death, your reflection is an outrageous insult. I am not accountable to you or any one else!”
“Really, there’s a good deal in all that,” said Larry. “We don’t pretend to any judicial functions. ”

“ Larry went ahead with a lantern.
“You see,” he explained, as we dropped through the trap into the passage, “I’ve tried a compass on this tunnel and find that we’ve been working on the wrong theory. The passage itself runs a straight line from the house under the gate to the crypt; the ravine is a rough crescent-shape and for a short distance the tunnel touches it. How deep does that ravine average—about thirty feet?”
“Yes; it’s shallowest where the house stands. it drops sharply from there on to the lake.”
“Very good; but the ravine is all on the Glenarm side of the wall, isn’t it? ”

“ I coughed at him, for the brick dust and the smoke of Larry’s pipe made breathing difficult.
“That’s all the loose brick,—bring the lantern closer,” —and we peered through the aperture upon a wooden door, in which strips of iron were deep-set. It was fastened with a padlock and Larry reached down for the ax.
“Wait!” I called, drawing closer with the lantern. “What’s this?”
The wood of the door was fresh and white, but burned deep on the surface, in this order, were the words:
THE DOOR
OF
BEWILDERMENT
“There are dead men inside, I dare say! ”