"This is certainly awfully interesting, but I'm blest if I can see how it's going to be of the slightest help!"
"Say, you're what us baseball fans call a bonehead," and Alexander chuckled derisively. "I'll bet Corinne's fallen for it already, without being told!"
"I confess, I don't see just how it helps," admitted Corinne, "unless—unless—there's some part of the old, original house left."
"That's the line o' talk!" shouted the boy, triumphantly. "I knew you'd hit the bull's-eye if any one did! There sure is something of the old house left, and that is—the beams that supported the cellar ceiling! They make the foundation of the stage!"
This time Alexander certainly scored a sensation.
"The beams—the beams!" cried Margaret.
"Then there must be the one that had the secret hiding-place in it!"
"Now you're talking!" remarked Alexander.
"But did you see it? Can you get at it?" demanded Corinne.
"There's where Central cuts you off! I examined the thing carefully, and got Tim to tell me all he knew. But we found that the stable only went part of the way through the old cellar of the house; the two ends are cut off and underground—or at least they're behind the side walls of the stable. Can you beat it?"