"Was he shut in?" asked Win.
"No," said the Colonel smiling. "He was annoyed with me and took that method of expressing his displeasure. I fancy he was a trifle surprised that no fuss was made over his exploit. You see, I knew he was perfectly safe. Connie, I think that path is possible for Win some day when the weather and tide both serve. Well, this is the extent of the original house. It includes this wing where we are and the main portion. These shaded partitions show distinctly where later additions have been made."
"What is this tiny dotted line across the grounds?" Win inquired.
"That? It is a footpath toward the shore and the gardener's cottage. I should say that the present path curves more, but that is its direction in general."
Win was puzzled by this explanation. Why should only one of the Manor paths be marked? That it was the sole one existing at the time the plans were drawn seemed scarcely possible.
"That 'safe place,' if it was outside the walls in those days would probably have been somewhere underground," commented Connie, after the map had been exhaustively discussed. "That might mean that it is now in the cellars somewhere. Dad, have we your permission to explore all the subterranean caverns?"
"If there are any that you haven't already investigated," said the amused Colonel. "I didn't suppose there was a square inch of the place that you and Max hadn't by heart."
"I thought so, too," said Constance, "but if Win's theories are correct, there must be something we have overlooked. What do you say about an exploration, Win?"
"Oh, I should like nothing better," said Win eagerly. "It will be great sport to hunt for that chest. And it's so interesting to look around a house that has been in the same family for centuries."
"There has been a Richard Lisle of Laurel Manor for over four hundred years," said the Colonel rather sadly. "I am the last of a long line."