Page:The House On The Cliff.pdf/152

 "There must be another opening that leads to the top of the cliff. They probably bring the stuff up to the house and then dispose of it from there."

"You'd think they would keep it at the Polucca place instead of down here."

"Probably they are afraid the house might be raided at some time or another. That's why they keep the goods hidden in this place. It would be mighty hard for any one to find it here."

"But how do they get the stuff out of here? There's no doorway that I can see."

The light of the flashlight played upon the walls.

No doorway, no opening of any kind, was revealed.

"That's strange," said Frank. "There must be some way out."

They began to move about the chamber. Across some of the bales of goods had been thrown rich bolts of silk, while valuable tapestries were also lying carelessly on the floor. In one corner were three or four boxes piled on top of one another. Frank accidentally knocked the flashlight against one of these and it gave forth a hollow sound.

"It's empty," he said.

An idea struck him that perhaps these boxes had been piled up to conceal some passage lead-