“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 frightened her?” asked Arden.
“I’m afraid we did,” Dorothy confessed.
“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.”