Page:The Secret of the Old Mill.pdf/194

186 length he managed to raise one side of it. Then, quietly, he worked at the trapdoor until he was able to lift it out of place. He raised it and put it quietly to one side.

It was very dark beneath the opening and he flashed the light down once for a brief second. It was long enough to show him that a ladder led from the opening to the floor of the musty, unoccupied room below.

So far, so good!

He whispered to Joe.

"All right. Come ahead."

In the aperture in the roof he could see Joe's form silhouetted, and then his brother scrambled down beside him in the attic.

"I've found a trapdoor," Frank whispered.

"Where does it lead to?"

"There's another room directly below us. It's empty. The workroom must be just below that. But there's a door at the far side of the room, and I think it leads to the stairs that run to the bottom of the mill."

"Shall we go ahead?"

"May as well. We haven't been seen yet. Nor heard."

Frank handed the flashlight to his brother, then groped his way to the trapdoor. He managed to place one foot on the top rung of the ladder beneath the opening.