"We'll all come!" declared Granny bravely. "Poor Viney! She wouldn't attend the Christmas party with me. She must have taken a sudden notion and come over by herself--but a secret passage to the cellar--I don't understand!"
"We'll have it all cleared up soon, I think," Harry said. "There must be an inside way into the cellar, isn't there?"
"I'll show you," offered Granny. "It's at the back of the hall, and there's also one leading out of the old kitchen. The hall way is nearer."
They found Viney Tucker lying in about the same place where Betty had discovered Jim Danton. The grim old lady in the black cloak was faintly moaning. Harry bent over her and made a hasty examination.
"Not badly hurt, I should say," was his verdict. "Just stunned--and very badly frightened."
"What in the world possessed you two to sneak off and put on a masquerading act like this?" asked Sim.
"We'll explain everything in a few minutes," answered Harry. "Just now we must get Mrs. Tucker upstairs. Here, Dick, you take this awkward long-tailed coat," and he slipped off the one that had formerly covered a soldier. "I'll carry Mrs. Tucker."
Picking up the old lady in his arms (and now she appeared to be reviving), Harry Pangborn, preceded by Sim and Betty with flashlights gleaming to show the way, started for the stairs. The others followed, Arden and Sim bringing up the rear.
Suddenly from behind them sounded a grating, rumbling noise. They turned in surprise and some fear, just in time to see several stones fall out of the old chimney that was part of the fireplace above. The chimney had its foundation on the bottom of the cellar.
Out toppled the loose stones, falling with a crash that brought nervous screams from Terry and Dorothy.
"What happened?" Harry called back, pausing with his burden.
"Looks as if the old place were falling apart," Dick answered. "The chimney is crumbling. Perhaps we had too hot a fire on the hearth. I guess we'd better get out of here."
"That chimney will never fall!" declared Granny Howe. "It was built to last forever, and will, unless it's torn down. There is no danger."
Arden paused to flash her light within an opening revealed by the falling stones. It was a smooth recess in the great stone chimney, not a rough aperture such as might happen by accident if some of the stones had merely crumbled away. It was only the few small outer stones, what, virtually, constituted a door to the hidden chamber, that had toppled away revealing a secret place.